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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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Word bank
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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: saw · wake · last · cue · squash · cold · race · pitcher

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. race — humankind
  3. saw — the tool
  4. last — final
  5. cold — not warm
  6. race — a contest
  7. last — to go on
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. squash — the sport
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. last — finally
  14. squash — to crush
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. cue — a signal
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. saw — the tool
  21. cue — for pool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. race — the arms race
  24. cue — a hint

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