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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — to go on
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — for digging
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. net — after costs
  8. row — to paddle
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wake — a trail
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. net — in sport
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. net — for catching
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. last — final
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. row — a line
  24. row — a quarrel

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