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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. race — a contest
  4. cell — in biology
  5. chip — for betting
  6. wax — to grow
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. chip — to eat
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bat — the animal
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. race — the arms race
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. cell — a phone
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. race — humankind
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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