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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. hand — help
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. cell — in biology
  6. wound — an injury
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. net — for catching
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. last — final
  13. net — after costs
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. squash — the sport
  16. net — in sport
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. squash — to crush
  19. wound — an injury
  20. hand — in cards
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. last — finally
  24. cell — a phone

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