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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. march — the month
  5. race — humankind
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. perch — the fish
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. mine — for digging
  12. march — the month
  13. cold — not warm
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. object — to protest
  16. race — a contest
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. race — the arms race
  20. row — to paddle
  21. cold — an illness
  22. row — a line
  23. object — a thing
  24. march — music

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