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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. cold — an illness
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — the arms race
  5. cold — not warm
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. bass — the fish
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. race — humankind
  16. hand — help
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. hand — in cards
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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