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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. lean — thin
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. cold — not warm
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. hand — in cards
  10. last — to go on
  11. lean — to bend
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. last — finally
  14. cold — an illness
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — humankind
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. last — final
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. hand — help
  24. racket — a loud noise

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