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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. cold — an illness
  3. march — music
  4. capital — money
  5. march — the month
  6. wound — an injury
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. firm — a company
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. march — the month
  11. bank — for money
  12. capital — a city
  13. race — a contest
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bank — for money
  17. firm — decided
  18. bank — of a river
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. wound — an injury
  21. firm — steady
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. race — humankind
  24. straw — a straw man

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