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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. band — a ring
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. wind — moving air
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. dip — to sink
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. last — to go on
  12. last — finally
  13. rest — what's left
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. band — a music group
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. plane — a tool
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. sharp — clever
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. rest — a break
  24. rest — what's left

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