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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. snap — to click
  5. band — a ring
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. mark — a trace
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. ball — a dance
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. race — humankind
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. ball — a great time
  15. cold — an illness
  16. race — a contest
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mark — a grade
  19. band — a music group
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. cold — not warm
  24. foot — a measure

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