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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 people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — finally
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. cold — not warm
  7. track — a path
  8. bark — to shout
  9. track — to keep track
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. track — a song
  12. last — final
  13. cold — an illness
  14. band — a music group
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. mark — a grade
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. band — a ring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. mark — a trace

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