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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. lean — thin
  4. wind — moving air
  5. ground — a position
  6. wind — moving air
  7. ground — crushed
  8. saw — the tool
  9. race — the arms race
  10. face — to confront
  11. tube — the underground
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. ground — the earth
  15. lean — to bend
  16. face — part of the head
  17. cold — not warm
  18. face — to point toward
  19. saw — the tool
  20. tube — a container
  21. race — humankind
  22. race — a contest
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. lean — to rest against

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