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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 120 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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. mark — a trace
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. pop — music
  6. cap — a lid
  7. hand — help
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. mark — a grade
  11. last — final
  12. last — to go on
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pop — soda
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cap — a hat
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cold — not warm
  21. hand — in cards
  22. wake — a trail
  23. pop — to visit
  24. last — finally

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