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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. spring — of water
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. mark — a trace
  5. race — the arms race
  6. squash — to crush
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. face — to point toward
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. spring — the season
  11. face — to confront
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. rush — hurry
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. race — humankind
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. face — part of the head
  20. spring — a coil
  21. race — a contest
  22. mark — a grade
  23. wake — a trail
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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