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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. sharp — clever
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. track — a path
  9. pop — to visit
  10. shower — to wash
  11. roll — a list
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. shower — rain
  14. roll — a cake
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. march — music
  17. pop — soda
  18. wake — a trail
  19. pop — music
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. track — to keep track
  24. track — a song

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