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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. mine — for digging
  3. track — a song
  4. perch — the fish
  5. staff — employees
  6. last — finally
  7. track — to keep track
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. staff — employees
  11. sharp — clever
  12. last — final
  13. cold — an illness
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. track — a path
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. last — to go on
  18. staff — a stick
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. sharp — with an edge

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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