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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. race — a contest
  3. bulb — for light
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — to wash
  9. bore — to drill
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. bulb — for light
  13. cold — an illness
  14. clip — a video
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bore — to tire
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. clip — for paper
  20. cold — not warm
  21. race — humankind
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. cold — the Cold War

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