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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. bulb — for light
  3. face — part of the head
  4. bulb — for light
  5. branch — a division
  6. last — final
  7. last — to go on
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. cue — for pool
  10. ground — crushed
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. cue — a hint
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wake — a trail
  15. face — to confront
  16. cue — a signal
  17. cold — an illness
  18. ground — the earth
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. face — to point toward
  21. ground — a position
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. last — finally
  24. cold — the Cold War

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