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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 116 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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. shower — rain
  5. land — ground
  6. last — to go on
  7. season — of the year
  8. season — in sport
  9. file — a document
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. root — of a plant
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. land — to come down
  14. root — the cause
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. land — a country
  17. deal — to handle
  18. last — finally
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. dip — to sink
  21. root — of a word
  22. shower — to wash
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a line of people

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