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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 116 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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. mine — belonging to me
  2. cold — an illness
  3. club — for golf
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. face — part of the head
  6. tube — a container
  7. bound — certain
  8. bound — tied together
  9. mine — for digging
  10. face — to confront
  11. craft — a skill
  12. club — for dancing
  13. face — to point toward
  14. tube — the underground
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — a contest
  17. craft — boats
  18. bound — obliged
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. club — a group
  23. cold — not warm
  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