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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. snap — to click
  3. rash — hasty
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. firm — a company
  7. rash — a series
  8. firm — steady
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. content — the amount
  12. firm — decided
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. cold — an illness
  16. content — happy
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. bass — low music
  19. race — the arms race
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. race — humankind
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bass — the fish
  24. cold — the Cold War

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