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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. face — to confront
  4. scale — in music
  5. last — finally
  6. file — a line of people
  7. face — to point toward
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. file — a tool
  10. last — final
  11. court — for sport
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. season — in sport
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. file — a document
  17. face — part of the head
  18. court — of law
  19. season — of the year
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. scale — size or range
  24. court — of a king

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