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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: hand · wake · pop · mine · fall · race · wave · hide

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. fall — to drop
  3. hand — in cards
  4. fall — the season
  5. pop — soda
  6. hand — help
  7. pop — to visit
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. race — a contest
  13. pop — music
  14. fall — to drop
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. mine — for digging
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. race — humankind
  22. wake — a trail
  23. race — the arms race
  24. hand — part of the body

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