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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: last · mate · hide · cell · squash · march · file · wind

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. march — music
  3. mate — a partner
  4. squash — the sport
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. wind — moving air
  8. file — a document
  9. last — final
  10. mate — a friend
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. march — the month
  13. squash — to crush
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. wind — moving air
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. file — a line of people
  18. last — to go on
  19. march — the month
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. mate — to breed
  23. file — a tool
  24. cell — in biology

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