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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: fall · date · trunk · wake · toast · game · rash · race

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. game — wild animals
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. date — the fruit
  7. fall — to drop
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. toast — bread
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. wake — a trail
  14. race — a contest
  15. race — the arms race
  16. fall — the season
  17. race — humankind
  18. rash — hasty
  19. fall — to drop
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. game — a match
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. rash — a series
  24. wake — before a funeral

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