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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. season — in sport
  3. rest — a break
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. file — a document
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. rest — what's left
  9. race — the arms race
  10. race — a contest
  11. scale — size or range
  12. wake — a trail
  13. scale — in music
  14. rest — what's left
  15. race — humankind
  16. season — of the year
  17. band — a music group
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. band — a ring
  20. file — a tool
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. file — a line of people

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