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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. drill — army training
  4. last — finally
  5. game — wild animals
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. last — final
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. prune — to trim
  10. squash — the sport
  11. game — a match
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. squash — to crush
  15. pit — in a race
  16. plane — a tool
  17. drill — a practice
  18. prune — to trim
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. chair — a leader
  22. drill — the tool
  23. last — to go on
  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