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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 120 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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. rash — a series
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. race — humankind
  11. race — a contest
  12. rush — hurry
  13. race — the arms race
  14. degree — an amount
  15. cold — an illness
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. degree — temperature
  19. last — final
  20. chair — a leader
  21. cold — not warm
  22. rash — hasty
  23. degree — from a university
  24. last — finally

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