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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. plane — a tool
  6. row — a line
  7. fall — to drop
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. court — for sport
  11. race — the arms race
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. fall — to drop
  15. row — to paddle
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chip — for betting
  18. fall — the season
  19. court — of law
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. court — of a king
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. cold — an illness
  24. chip — to eat

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