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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. drill — the tool
  3. object — an aim
  4. prune — to trim
  5. last — to go on
  6. plane — a tool
  7. land — to come down
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. object — a thing
  10. land — ground
  11. swing — music
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. last — finally
  15. land — a country
  16. drill — army training
  17. last — final
  18. drill — a practice
  19. prune — to trim
  20. swing — to play on
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — an illness
  23. object — to protest
  24. plane — an aircraft

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