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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. snap — to click
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. rash — a series
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rash — hasty
  13. mark — a trace
  14. race — the arms race
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — a contest
  18. mark — a grade

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