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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. pit — in a race
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pass — a permit
  5. root — of a plant
  6. wake — a trail
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. swing — to play on
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pit — a hole
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. rash — hasty
  15. root — of a word
  16. root — the cause
  17. swing — in golf
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. band — a ring
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. band — a music group
  23. swing — music
  24. rash — a series

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