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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. face — part of the head
  3. vault — a safe
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. band — a ring
  6. cap — a lid
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. cap — of ice
  11. band — a music group
  12. face — to confront
  13. cap — a hat
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. fall — to drop
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. fall — to drop
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. wake — a trail
  23. face — to point toward
  24. fall — the season

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