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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wind — moving air
  4. race — humankind
  5. track — a song
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. rest — what's left
  10. track — a path
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. track — to keep track
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. spring — the season
  15. ball — a dance
  16. race — a contest
  17. row — to paddle
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rest — what's left
  20. row — a line
  21. ball — a great time
  22. rest — a break
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — of water

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