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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. fall — the season
  4. club — for golf
  5. club — a group
  6. pit — a hole
  7. hand — in cards
  8. fall — to drop
  9. club — for dancing
  10. rest — what's left
  11. hand — help
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rest — a break
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. fall — to drop
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pit — in a race
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. race — a contest
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. rest — what's left
  24. wind — moving air

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