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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 120 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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. face — to point toward
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — not warm
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — the season
  8. face — part of the head
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. club — for dancing
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. race — humankind
  15. club — a group
  16. race — a contest
  17. fall — to drop
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. face — to confront
  23. club — for golf
  24. race — the arms race

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