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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. last — to go on
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — for digging
  5. last — finally
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wind — moving air
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. season — of the year
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. snap — to click
  15. last — final
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. object — a thing
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. object — to protest
  20. season — in sport
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. wind — moving air
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. cold — an illness

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