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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. rash — a series
  4. object — an aim
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. rash — hasty
  7. object — a thing
  8. stock — shares
  9. ball — a great time
  10. race — humankind
  11. object — to protest
  12. cold — an illness
  13. net — after costs
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stock — goods
  16. net — for catching
  17. cold — not warm
  18. net — in sport
  19. race — a contest
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. race — the arms race
  23. wound — an injury
  24. ball — a dance

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