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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  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. snap — to click
  2. race — a contest
  3. club — a group
  4. cold — an illness
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. drill — a practice
  7. drill — army training
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. race — the arms race
  11. sharp — clever
  12. club — for golf
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. club — for dancing
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. chip — for betting
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. vault — a safe
  21. drill — the tool
  22. chip — to eat
  23. sharp — exactly
  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