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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. race — the arms race
  4. charge — electricity
  5. lean — thin
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. lean — to bend
  9. cell — a phone
  10. branch — a division
  11. fine — all right
  12. charge — in control
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. bass — low music
  16. race — humankind
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. charge — a price
  22. fine — high quality
  23. cell — in biology
  24. race — a contest

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