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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. prune — to trim
  4. chip — to eat
  5. race — humankind
  6. deal — to handle
  7. prune — to trim
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. cold — an illness
  11. race — the arms race
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. bass — the fish
  16. chip — for betting
  17. bass — low music
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. branch — a division
  22. cold — not warm
  23. sharp — clever
  24. race — a contest

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