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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. face — to confront
  3. last — final
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. rock — a stone
  6. degree — temperature
  7. file — a line of people
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. face — to point toward
  11. cold — not warm
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. wind — moving air
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. face — part of the head
  18. file — a tool
  19. stand — to bear
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. last — to go on
  23. rock — music
  24. file — a document

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