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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. race — the arms race
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. race — humankind
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. press — to push
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. last — to go on
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. race — a contest
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. press — a publisher
  18. last — finally
  19. last — final
  20. capital — a city
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. press — newspapers
  23. wake — a trail
  24. capital — money

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