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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 124 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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. last — finally
  4. last — to go on
  5. content — happy
  6. file — a tool
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. last — final
  10. root — the cause
  11. file — a document
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. mark — a trace
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. content — the amount
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. file — a line of people
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. root — of a plant
  21. root — of a word
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. mark — a grade
  24. racket — a loud noise

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