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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. object — an aim
  3. object — a thing
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. spring — a coil
  6. last — finally
  7. spring — of water
  8. last — to go on
  9. spring — the season
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. field — for sport
  13. content — happy
  14. field — farmland
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. content — the amount
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rule — government
  21. object — to protest
  22. field — a subject
  23. rule — a law
  24. nail — for a hammer

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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