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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: scale · last · saw · rest · fan · squash · kid · race

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. saw — the tool
  3. squash — the sport
  4. kid — to tease
  5. scale — in music
  6. rest — a break
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. saw — the tool
  9. rest — what's left
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. rest — what's left
  12. squash — to crush
  13. kid — child
  14. last — final
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. scale — size or range
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — humankind
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. race — the arms race
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. last — finally

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