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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  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 — the arms race
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. chest — a box
  8. scale — size or range
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. dip — to sink
  16. scale — in music
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — a contest
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. chest — of your body
  21. shower — rain
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  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