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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 120 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. cold — an illness
  3. race — a contest
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. object — an aim
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. file — a document
  11. band — a music group
  12. race — the arms race
  13. band — a ring
  14. wind — moving air
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. object — a thing
  17. object — to protest
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. file — a line of people
  20. sharp — clever
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. race — humankind
  23. file — a tool
  24. sharp — with an edge

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