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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bound — tied together
  4. bound — certain
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. race — a contest
  7. swing — music
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rock — a stone
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. rock — music
  14. deal — to handle
  15. kid — to tease
  16. swing — in golf
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. swing — to play on
  19. kid — child
  20. bound — obliged
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. race — humankind
  23. race — the arms race
  24. date — the fruit

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