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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. pit — in a race
  5. cold — not warm
  6. race — the arms race
  7. game — a match
  8. race — a contest
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. game — wild animals
  11. row — to paddle
  12. tear — from crying
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — a line
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. cold — an illness
  19. pit — a hole
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. tear — to rip
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. tear — from crying
  24. leaves — to go away

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