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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: patient · rest · spell · ground · last · bat · perch · snap

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. last — to go on
  3. ground — crushed
  4. perch — the fish
  5. spell — magic
  6. rest — a break
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. spell — a short time
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. spell — letters
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — what's left
  15. ground — a position
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. bat — the animal
  19. last — finally
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. last — final
  22. snap — to click
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. ground — the earth

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