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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 120 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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. mate — a friend
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — a phone
  7. saw — the tool
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. saw — the tool
  11. tear — from crying
  12. fork — in a road
  13. tear — from crying
  14. last — finally
  15. band — a music group
  16. last — to go on
  17. mate — a partner
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. band — a ring
  22. tear — to rip
  23. mate — to breed
  24. wake — a trail

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