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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. drill — army training
  4. squash — the sport
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. last — final
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. content — happy
  9. spell — letters
  10. drill — a practice
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. last — finally
  14. squash — to crush
  15. spell — magic
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. fork — in a road
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. drill — the tool
  20. spell — a short time
  21. row — a line
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. row — to paddle
  24. content — the amount

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