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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. degree — an amount
  3. snap — to click
  4. staff — employees
  5. lie — to recline
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — from a university
  11. race — humankind
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. staff — employees
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. staff — a stick
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. race — the arms race
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wake — a trail
  22. race — a contest
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. safe — out of danger

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