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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. wound — an injury
  3. chair — a leader
  4. net — after costs
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. last — final
  8. wound — an injury
  9. clip — to cut
  10. net — in sport
  11. clip — a video
  12. date — the fruit
  13. last — finally
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. clip — for paper
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. sharp — clever
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. net — for catching

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