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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: cell · wave · cold · hand · stick · wake · row · temple

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. hand — help
  6. cell — in biology
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. hand — in cards
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. row — a line
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — a phone
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. row — to paddle
  24. cold — the Cold War

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