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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. stand — to bear
  3. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. shower — rain
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. clip — to cut
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. clip — a video
  15. lean — thin
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. clip — for paper
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. lean — to bend
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. shower — to wash
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. stem — to come from

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