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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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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 · date · pit · last · hand · game · spell · track

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — to go on
  3. pit — a hole
  4. last — final
  5. spell — magic
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. hand — help
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. spell — letters
  10. track — a path
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wake — a trail
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. game — a match
  15. game — wild animals
  16. pit — in a race
  17. spell — a short time
  18. track — to keep track
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. track — a song
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. date — the fruit

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