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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. wind — moving air
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. scale — in music
  6. season — of the year
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. wake — a trail
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. degree — from a university
  14. race — a contest
  15. scale — size or range
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wind — moving air
  18. degree — an amount
  19. season — in sport
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. race — humankind
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. race — the arms race
  24. cold — not warm

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