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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: march · race · last · wake · bear · fan · mate · cell

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. last — to go on
  3. mate — to breed
  4. march — music
  5. race — humankind
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. wake — a trail
  8. race — a contest
  9. cell — a phone
  10. race — the arms race
  11. march — the month
  12. last — final
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — in biology
  16. march — the month
  17. bear — the animal
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. last — finally
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. bear — the animal
  22. mate — a friend
  23. mate — a partner
  24. fan — a supporter

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