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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. content — happy
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. spell — a short time
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. spell — letters
  7. spring — of water
  8. roll — a list
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. content — the amount
  11. spring — the season
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. race — humankind
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. spell — magic
  17. roll — a cake
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. spring — a coil
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. race — the arms race
  24. ruler — for measuring

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