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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. drill — army training
  4. march — the month
  5. bulb — for light
  6. snap — to click
  7. last — finally
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. hand — in cards
  11. fall — to drop
  12. march — the month
  13. hand — help
  14. drill — a practice
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. last — final
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. bulb — for light
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. march — music
  23. date — the fruit
  24. hand — part of the body

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