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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. race — the arms race
  5. wound — an injury
  6. last — finally
  7. bass — the fish
  8. pop — music
  9. race — a contest
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rock — music
  13. last — final
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. pop — to visit
  17. last — to go on
  18. bass — low music
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. rock — a stone
  21. race — humankind
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — a phone

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