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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. wind — moving air
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. cap — a hat
  5. race — a contest
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. cap — a lid
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. race — humankind
  12. last — final
  13. cap — of ice
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. shower — rain
  16. hand — in cards
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. plane — a tool
  19. sharp — clever
  20. shower — to wash
  21. last — finally
  22. last — to go on
  23. hand — help
  24. sharp — exactly

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