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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 120 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: patient · cold · race · lash · root · wake · last · bear

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. last — final
  6. root — of a word
  7. bear — the animal
  8. cold — an illness
  9. root — the cause
  10. race — humankind
  11. last — to go on
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. last — finally
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. race — a contest
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. race — the arms race
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. root — of a plant
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bear — the animal
  24. wake — a trail

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