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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: wake · net · bay · snap · ball · last · cold · ground

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wake — a trail
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. cold — not warm
  5. net — in sport
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. last — to go on
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — a position
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. ball — a dance
  17. ball — a great time
  18. snap — to click
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. last — final
  21. net — for catching
  22. net — after costs
  23. ground — the earth
  24. last — finally

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