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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. cold — not warm
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. race — a contest
  5. content — the amount
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. race — the arms race
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. fine — all right
  13. scale — size or range
  14. bark — to shout
  15. content — happy
  16. cold — an illness
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. scale — in music
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. race — humankind
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. deal — to handle

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