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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. shower — to wash
  3. race — humankind
  4. squash — the sport
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. squash — to crush
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. wind — moving air
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. wind — moving air
  13. race — a contest
  14. ball — a dance
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. ball — a great time
  19. mine — for digging
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. chair — a leader
  22. shower — rain
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. saw — the tool

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