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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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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. spring — the season
  5. cold — an illness
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. wake — a trail
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. last — to go on
  12. spring — of water
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. land — a country
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. last — final
  19. vault — a safe
  20. land — ground
  21. last — finally
  22. land — to come down
  23. spring — a coil
  24. cold — not warm

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