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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. last — finally
  4. rash — a series
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. cell — a phone
  7. race — humankind
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. snap — to click
  11. cell — in biology
  12. last — final
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. rash — hasty
  15. race — a contest
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wax — to grow
  20. wake — a trail
  21. roll — a list
  22. last — to go on
  23. roll — a cake
  24. race — the arms race

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