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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 120 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 · band · spring · bark · hide · arm · last

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. last — final
  4. race — humankind
  5. last — finally
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. wake — a trail
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. band — a ring
  11. spring — the season
  12. race — a contest
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. last — to go on
  15. bark — to shout
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. band — a music group
  20. race — the arms race
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — a coil
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. arm — part of the body

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