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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — final
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wound — an injury
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. roll — a cake
  7. rule — government
  8. tear — to rip
  9. rule — a law
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. tear — from crying
  14. fork — in a road
  15. last — to go on
  16. roll — a list
  17. mine — for digging
  18. staff — employees
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — a stick
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. wound — an injury
  24. fork — to eat with

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