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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. last — final
  3. mate — a friend
  4. mate — a partner
  5. cold — an illness
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. last — finally
  9. stem — to come from
  10. cold — not warm
  11. spell — magic
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. rock — a stone
  15. wake — a trail
  16. mate — to breed
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. spell — a short time
  20. rock — music
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. spell — letters
  24. last — to go on

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