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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 116 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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. sharp — clever
  3. race — humankind
  4. race — the arms race
  5. cap — a hat
  6. content — happy
  7. spell — letters
  8. content — the amount
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. spell — magic
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — to paddle
  13. wake — a trail
  14. cap — a lid
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. spell — a short time
  19. race — a contest
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. scale — size or range
  22. row — a line
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. scale — in music

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