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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 120 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. cell — a phone
  3. last — to go on
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. cell — in biology
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. chair — a leader
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — a break
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rest — what's left
  18. last — finally
  19. stand — to bear
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. kick — in football
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. kick — with a leg

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