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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 120 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. content — happy
  3. last — finally
  4. file — a line of people
  5. content — the amount
  6. bulb — for light
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. rest — a break
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — to tease
  12. file — a tool
  13. last — to go on
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. rest — what's left
  16. saw — the tool
  17. bound — tied together
  18. rest — what's left
  19. bulb — for light
  20. file — a document
  21. bound — obliged
  22. saw — the tool
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. bound — certain

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