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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. wound — an injury
  3. last — final
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. row — to paddle
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. row — a line
  13. rash — hasty
  14. bat — the animal
  15. capital — money
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. rash — a series
  19. last — to go on
  20. capital — a city
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. wound — an injury

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