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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 116 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. perch — the fish
  3. race — humankind
  4. cap — a lid
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. rule — government
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. game — wild animals
  10. last — to go on
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. snap — to click
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cap — of ice
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. rule — a law
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. race — the arms race
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. race — a contest
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. last — final

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