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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: cell · last · rush · file · racket · saw · wake · season

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. last — final
  4. season — of the year
  5. file — a tool
  6. wake — a trail
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. last — finally
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. file — a line of people
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. rush — hurry
  18. saw — the tool
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. file — a document
  21. last — to go on
  22. saw — the tool
  23. season — in sport
  24. cell — in biology

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