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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — final
  3. last — to go on
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. wound — an injury
  6. squash — to crush
  7. dip — to sink
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. stock — shares
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. hand — help
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. stock — goods
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. squash — the sport
  18. wound — an injury
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. sharp — clever
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — in cards
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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