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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. plane — a tool
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — a break
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. drill — the tool
  9. cold — an illness
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — humankind
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — army training
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. race — the arms race
  19. wake — a trail
  20. scale — in music
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. scale — size or range

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