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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. lean — thin
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. rule — a law
  6. hand — in cards
  7. board — to get on
  8. rule — government
  9. kid — to tease
  10. hand — help
  11. board — a committee
  12. branch — a division
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. race — humankind
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lean — to bend
  18. race — a contest
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. kid — child
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. bat — the animal

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