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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. perch — the fish
  3. rule — a law
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. rest — a break
  7. last — finally
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. rest — what's left
  10. bat — the animal
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. pit — a hole
  13. rule — government
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. last — to go on
  16. rest — what's left
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. pit — in a race
  21. squash — the sport
  22. squash — to crush
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. date — the fruit

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