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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. march — music
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. pitch — completely
  8. wake — a trail
  9. race — a contest
  10. ball — a great time
  11. march — the month
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. race — the arms race
  15. face — part of the head
  16. face — to point toward
  17. cold — an illness
  18. face — to confront
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. march — the month
  21. race — humankind
  22. lean — to bend
  23. cold — not warm
  24. ball — a dance

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