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

Word bank: wake · cold · cabinet · object · prune · snap · race · root

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. race — humankind
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. object — an aim
  7. cold — not warm
  8. snap — to click
  9. prune — to trim
  10. wake — a trail
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. root — of a word
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cold — an illness
  16. race — a contest
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. race — the arms race
  21. object — to protest
  22. root — the cause
  23. root — of a plant
  24. object — a thing

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