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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 124 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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. last — final
  3. cap — a lid
  4. roll — a list
  5. court — for sport
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a hat
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. land — ground
  11. roll — a cake
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. mark — a grade
  15. race — a contest
  16. land — a country
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. land — to come down
  19. race — humankind
  20. court — of law
  21. court — of a king
  22. last — finally
  23. mark — a trace
  24. race — the arms race

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