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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. spring — the season
  4. saw — the tool
  5. shower — rain
  6. shower — to wash
  7. staff — employees
  8. staff — employees
  9. scale — in music
  10. spring — a coil
  11. saw — the tool
  12. race — humankind
  13. spring — of water
  14. cold — not warm
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. degree — an amount
  17. staff — a stick
  18. scale — size or range
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — from a university
  22. cold — an illness
  23. race — a contest
  24. cold — the Cold War

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