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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. rash — hasty
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — humankind
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. race — the arms race
  7. spell — a short time
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. spell — magic
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. track — a song
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. track — to keep track
  14. net — for catching
  15. spell — letters
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. track — a path
  18. cold — an illness
  19. deal — to handle
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. rash — a series
  22. net — in sport
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. net — after costs

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