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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: board · racket · wake · last · cell · ground · spring · cold

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. board — to get on
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. ground — a position
  9. last — to go on
  10. ground — the earth
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. spring — a coil
  13. ground — crushed
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. spring — of water
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. board — a committee
  20. last — finally
  21. last — final
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. wake — a trail
  24. spring — the season

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