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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 120 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. board — to get on
  5. board — a committee
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bat — the animal
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. file — a line of people
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cold — an illness
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a document
  18. wake — before a funeral

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