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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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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bat — the animal
  5. kid — to tease
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. last — final
  8. band — a music group
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. root — the cause
  11. root — of a plant
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. band — a ring
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. last — finally
  17. cold — not warm
  18. root — of a word
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. kid — child

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