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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. date — the fruit
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — the earth
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. stock — goods
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — the animal
  10. spring — the season
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. stock — shares
  13. spring — of water
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. last — to go on
  19. ground — a position
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. lie — to recline
  22. spring — a coil
  23. last — finally
  24. stock — a soup base

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