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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 120 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. scale — size or range
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. kick — in football
  7. scale — in music
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. branch — a division
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. ball — a dance
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. race — the arms race
  17. race — humankind
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. cold — not warm
  20. race — a contest
  21. ball — a great time
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. arm — part of the body

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