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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. race — a contest
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. hand — in cards
  8. tear — from crying
  9. fine — all right
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. tear — to rip
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. fall — the season
  15. scale — size or range
  16. hand — help
  17. fine — high quality
  18. race — the arms race
  19. cold — an illness
  20. scale — in music
  21. cold — not warm
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. fall — to drop

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