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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. race — humankind
  5. mark — a trace
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. chest — a box
  8. mark — a grade
  9. race — a contest
  10. perch — the fish
  11. rash — hasty
  12. cold — not warm
  13. present — a gift
  14. chest — of your body
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. rash — a series
  17. cold — an illness
  18. rush — hurry
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. present — the time now
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. present — there
  23. chest — of your body
  24. race — the arms race

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