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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: stick · race · chair · cold · wake · key · cell · track

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. cold — an illness
  3. track — to keep track
  4. track — a song
  5. key — the most important part
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. key — for a lock
  15. cell — in biology
  16. chair — a leader
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. race — humankind
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — the arms race
  23. track — a path
  24. key — in music

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