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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 120 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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  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. rush — hurry
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. bulb — for light
  5. stand — to bear
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. bulb — for light
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. file — a document
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. cold — not warm
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — army training
  15. file — a tool
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. race — the arms race
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. deal — to handle
  20. race — a contest
  21. file — a line of people
  22. cold — an illness
  23. drill — the tool
  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