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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. mine — for digging
  3. saw — the tool
  4. fall — to drop
  5. charge — electricity
  6. cold — not warm
  7. track — a path
  8. track — a song
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. charge — a price
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. fall — the season
  13. race — humankind
  14. fall — to drop
  15. race — the arms race
  16. roll — a cake
  17. track — to keep track
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. race — a contest
  21. roll — a list
  22. cold — an illness
  23. charge — in control
  24. saw — the tool

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