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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. spring — the season
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. perch — the fish
  7. spring — of water
  8. cell — in biology
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. last — finally
  11. mark — a trace
  12. file — a document
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. spring — a coil
  19. file — a line of people
  20. drill — army training
  21. mark — a grade
  22. file — a tool
  23. cell — a phone
  24. last — final

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com