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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 116 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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. race — a contest
  3. saw — the tool
  4. kid — child
  5. scale — size or range
  6. march — the month
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. saw — the tool
  12. fine — high quality
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. fine — all right
  15. kid — to tease
  16. march — the month
  17. scale — in music
  18. march — music
  19. race — the arms race
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. race — humankind

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