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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. race — the arms race
  5. race — a contest
  6. staff — a stick
  7. ball — a great time
  8. race — humankind
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. cold — not warm
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. hand — in cards
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. staff — employees
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — help
  21. sharp — clever
  22. march — the month
  23. cold — an illness
  24. ball — a dance

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