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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. object — an aim
  4. rest — what's left
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. object — a thing
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. track — a path
  10. last — to go on
  11. field — farmland
  12. object — to protest
  13. last — final
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — for sport
  17. rest — a break
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. wake — a trail
  20. track — a song
  21. sharp — clever
  22. track — to keep track
  23. rest — what's left
  24. last — finally

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