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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 116 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. spring — of water
  3. board — a committee
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. can — a tin
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. board — to get on
  9. rush — hurry
  10. can — to be able to
  11. spring — a coil
  12. cold — an illness
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — a contest
  15. present — there
  16. can — a tin
  17. present — the time now
  18. spring — the season
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. cold — not warm
  22. present — a gift
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. race — humankind

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