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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wave · wake · row · band · trunk · rush · plane · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. wake — a trail
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. rush — hurry
  11. plane — a tool
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. band — a music group
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. band — a ring
  17. row — to paddle
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. row — a line
  24. cold — an illness

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