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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. last — final
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. capital — money
  8. vault — a safe
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. rest — what's left
  11. capital — a city
  12. rest — what's left
  13. last — to go on
  14. rest — a break
  15. saw — the tool
  16. last — finally
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. saw — the tool
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. mine — for digging

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