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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 116 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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. sharp — clever
  3. season — of the year
  4. fall — to drop
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. season — in sport
  8. fork — in a road
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. last — finally
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. fall — to drop
  13. last — to go on
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. fall — the season
  21. last — final
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. branch — a division
  24. bat — in an idiom

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