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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 116 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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. last — final
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. race — the arms race
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. last — to go on
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cold — not warm
  16. staff — employees
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. cold — an illness
  19. staff — employees
  20. last — finally
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. race — humankind
  23. race — a contest
  24. racket — for tennis

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