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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. hand — help
  3. stand — to bear
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. cold — an illness
  6. suit — clothes
  7. date — the fruit
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. race — humankind
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bat — the animal
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. cold — not warm
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — in cards
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. suit — in cards
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. suit — to fit
  20. race — the arms race
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

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