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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. drill — a practice
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. drill — army training
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. stem — to come from
  12. drill — the tool
  13. last — to go on
  14. sharp — clever
  15. club — for golf
  16. file — a tool
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. file — a line of people
  19. club — a group
  20. last — final
  21. club — for dancing
  22. file — a document
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — a jug

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