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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. fine — all right
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. saw — the tool
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. cold — an illness
  8. fine — high quality
  9. hand — in cards
  10. net — in sport
  11. net — for catching
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. cold — not warm
  16. race — the arms race
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. race — humankind
  19. race — a contest
  20. wind — moving air
  21. saw — the tool
  22. wind — moving air
  23. net — after costs
  24. wind — to turn a key

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