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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: degree · tube · drill · last · cold · mark · toast · perch

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. mark — a trace
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. drill — a practice
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. degree — from a university
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. degree — an amount
  15. drill — the tool
  16. tube — a container
  17. drill — army training
  18. perch — the fish
  19. degree — temperature
  20. tube — the underground
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. mark — a grade
  24. toast — bread

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