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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. last — final
  5. spell — magic
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. last — finally
  10. scale — size or range
  11. spell — letters
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. rush — hurry
  14. spell — a short time
  15. fork — in a road
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. cold — not warm
  21. scale — in music
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. last — to go on

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