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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. track — a song
  3. file — a document
  4. present — the time now
  5. track — to keep track
  6. present — there
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. last — to go on
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. last — finally
  12. vault — a safe
  13. season — in sport
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. track — a path
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. present — a gift
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. file — a line of people
  22. season — of the year
  23. file — a tool
  24. chest — a box

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