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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 120 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 ________________ went through the wall.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. spell — magic
  4. spell — letters
  5. drill — army training
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. dip — to sink
  8. firm — steady
  9. race — a contest
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. spell — a short time
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — humankind
  15. drill — a practice
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. firm — a company
  18. firm — decided
  19. drill — the tool
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. straw — dry grass

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