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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cell — in biology
  4. fall — to drop
  5. roll — a cake
  6. capital — a city
  7. branch — a division
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — the season
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. race — humankind
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. roll — a list
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. cell — a phone
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. race — a contest
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. capital — money
  24. cell — in a prison

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