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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's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. cold — an illness
  4. scale — in music
  5. fall — the season
  6. mark — a trace
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. race — humankind
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. race — the arms race
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. race — a contest
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. deal — to handle
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. fall — to drop
  19. mark — a grade
  20. scale — size or range
  21. cold — not warm
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. fall — to drop

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