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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. land — to come down
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. spell — a short time
  6. bound — certain
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — what's left
  9. spell — letters
  10. spell — magic
  11. land — a country
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. last — finally
  15. mine — for digging
  16. land — ground
  17. bound — tied together
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. last — final
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — to tease
  22. rest — a break
  23. bound — obliged
  24. kid — child

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