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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: ball · wake · rest · race · bore · chip · cold · bear

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. chip — to eat
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — the animal
  6. wake — a trail
  7. bore — to tire
  8. ball — a great time
  9. rest — what's left
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. race — the arms race
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. bore — to drill
  15. rest — what's left
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. ball — a dance
  19. rest — a break
  20. race — humankind
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chip — for betting
  24. race — a contest

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