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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. wake — a trail
  5. swing — to play on
  6. tube — the underground
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. swing — music
  9. tube — a container
  10. rash — hasty
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — to tease
  14. rock — a stone
  15. cold — an illness
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. cold — not warm
  18. rash — a series
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. wound — an injury
  22. swing — in golf
  23. rock — music
  24. wound — an injury

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