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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. net — after costs
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. craft — a skill
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. cell — a phone
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. craft — boats
  12. net — for catching
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. band — a music group
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — money
  18. stand — to bear
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. net — in sport
  21. band — a ring
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cell — in biology
  24. stand — on your feet

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