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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. suit — in cards
  3. scale — size or range
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. suit — to fit
  8. cold — an illness
  9. squash — to crush
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. scale — in music
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. squash — the sport
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. hand — help
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — a contest
  20. hand — in cards
  21. suit — clothes
  22. race — humankind
  23. cold — not warm
  24. scale — for weighing

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