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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. present — the time now
  3. toast — bread
  4. content — the amount
  5. present — a gift
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. fall — to drop
  8. game — a match
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — the arms race
  12. last — final
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. content — happy
  16. race — humankind
  17. present — there
  18. fall — to drop
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. fall — the season
  21. last — finally
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. game — wild animals

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