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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. content — the amount
  7. hand — help
  8. current — of water
  9. rash — hasty
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. current — happening now
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. sharp — clever
  16. hand — in cards
  17. rash — a series
  18. content — happy
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bark — to shout
  22. current — electric
  23. race — the arms race
  24. race — humankind

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