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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. band — a music group
  3. last — final
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. sharp — clever
  9. drill — a practice
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. march — the month
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. band — a ring
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. drill — army training
  20. drill — the tool
  21. bore — to drill
  22. bore — to tire
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. last — finally

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