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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. race — the arms race
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. rash — hasty
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. fork — in a road
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. march — the month
  9. drill — the tool
  10. roll — a list
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rash — a series
  13. roll — a cake
  14. race — humankind
  15. charge — in control
  16. march — the month
  17. drill — army training
  18. cold — an illness
  19. march — music
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. charge — electricity
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. charge — a price
  24. drill — a practice

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