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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. race — humankind
  3. row — a line
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. rash — hasty
  6. race — a contest
  7. cold — not warm
  8. spell — a short time
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. spell — letters
  11. degree — an amount
  12. spell — magic
  13. race — the arms race
  14. degree — from a university
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. row — to paddle
  19. lean — to bend
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. lean — thin
  23. cold — an illness
  24. rash — a series

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