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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. track — a path
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. plane — a tool
  7. cold — an illness
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. track — a song
  10. race — the arms race
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. race — a contest
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. track — to keep track
  17. snap — to click
  18. stand — to bear
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — the animal
  23. plane — an aircraft
  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