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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 116 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: cold · saw · lie · degree · last · spell · rest · cabinet

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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. saw — the tool
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — a break
  6. lie — to recline
  7. saw — the tool
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. spell — a short time
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. spell — magic
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — temperature
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. last — finally
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. rest — what's left
  23. spell — letters
  24. cabinet — ministers

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