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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. land — ground
  3. last — to go on
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. mate — a friend
  6. clip — for paper
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — what's left
  9. present — the time now
  10. clip — to cut
  11. snap — to click
  12. present — a gift
  13. land — to come down
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. land — a country
  17. mate — a partner
  18. mate — to breed
  19. present — there
  20. clip — a video
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. last — finally
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. rest — a break

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