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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: wake · race · last · roll · pitch · mug · clip · chest

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  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. last — finally
  2. wake — a trail
  3. roll — a cake
  4. last — to go on
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — the arms race
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. clip — to cut
  11. mug — to rob
  12. mug — a cup
  13. race — humankind
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. pitch — completely
  16. roll — a list
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. last — final
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — for paper
  21. mug — a face
  22. chest — a box
  23. roll — on a roll
  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