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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. scale — size or range
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. degree — from a university
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. firm — a company
  8. spell — letters
  9. spring — a coil
  10. firm — decided
  11. firm — steady
  12. spring — of water
  13. spell — a short time
  14. last — to go on
  15. saw — the tool
  16. spell — magic
  17. last — finally
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. saw — the tool
  20. scale — in music
  21. degree — temperature
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. spring — the season
  24. degree — an amount

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