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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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Word bank
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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. lean — thin
  4. degree — an amount
  5. saw — the tool
  6. chest — of your body
  7. race — the arms race
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. saw — the tool
  12. degree — from a university
  13. lean — to bend
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. chest — a box
  16. race — a contest
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. bear — the animal
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bear — the animal
  24. chest — of your body

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