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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wake · race · present · pound · fork · cold

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. present — a gift
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. fork — in a road
  6. cold — not warm
  7. race — humankind
  8. pound — a weight
  9. present — there
  10. wake — a trail
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. race — a contest
  14. present — the time now
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. cold — an illness
  18. race — the arms race

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