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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. club — for dancing
  3. race — a contest
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. drill — a practice
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. craft — boats
  11. drill — the tool
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — the arms race
  15. object — to protest
  16. kick — in football
  17. cold — not warm
  18. craft — a skill
  19. object — a thing
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. cold — an illness
  22. drill — army training
  23. club — for golf
  24. club — a group

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