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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. mark — a grade
  3. wake — a trail
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wind — moving air
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. chest — of your body
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. land — ground
  10. land — a country
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. mark — a trace
  14. band — a ring
  15. chest — a box
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pop — music
  18. band — a music group
  19. land — to come down
  20. pop — to visit
  21. pop — soda
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. branch — a division
  24. chest — of your body

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