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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. cap — of ice
  4. last — to go on
  5. kid — child
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. tear — from crying
  12. field — for sport
  13. last — final
  14. kid — to tease
  15. wake — a trail
  16. field — a subject
  17. cap — a hat
  18. field — farmland
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. tear — to rip
  21. cap — a lid
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. last — finally

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