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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 · plane · hide · pass · last · band · charge · cold

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. last — final
  7. cold — an illness
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. pass — a permit
  11. charge — in control
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a ring
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wake — a trail
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. charge — electricity
  19. last — finally
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. last — to go on
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. plane — a tool

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