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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 116 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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. spring — a coil
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. last — finally
  5. clip — for paper
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fork — in a road
  8. march — music
  9. clip — to cut
  10. last — to go on
  11. spring — of water
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. clip — a video
  14. fall — to drop
  15. march — the month
  16. fall — the season
  17. last — final
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — a break
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. spring — the season
  24. march — the month

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