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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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Word bank
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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: sharp · rush · cold · spell · land · bore · face · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. sharp — clever
  3. face — to point toward
  4. land — a country
  5. last — to go on
  6. face — part of the head
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. spell — letters
  9. last — finally
  10. land — ground
  11. face — to confront
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. cold — an illness
  14. land — to come down
  15. cold — not warm
  16. spell — a short time
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. bore — to tire
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. rush — hurry
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. bore — to drill
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. spell — magic

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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