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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. last — final
  3. shower — to wash
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. prune — to trim
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. last — to go on
  8. band — a ring
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. prune — to trim
  13. race — the arms race
  14. band — a music group
  15. saw — the tool
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. board — a committee
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. race — humankind
  21. board — to get on
  22. race — a contest
  23. last — finally
  24. patient — a sick person

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