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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. degree — from a university
  4. shower — rain
  5. march — the month
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. shower — to wash
  9. last — to go on
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. degree — an amount
  16. mug — to rob
  17. degree — temperature
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. mug — a face
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. sharp — clever
  23. mug — a cup
  24. last — final

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