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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. game — wild animals
  3. hand — in cards
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. squash — the sport
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. hand — help
  9. last — final
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. wake — a trail
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. game — a match
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. last — finally
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. dip — to sink
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. squash — to crush

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