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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. race — the arms race
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — the animal
  5. race — humankind
  6. land — a country
  7. chest — of your body
  8. sharp — clever
  9. chest — a box
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. suit — clothes
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. race — a contest
  15. suit — to fit
  16. cold — an illness
  17. land — ground
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wind — moving air
  20. chest — of your body
  21. land — to come down
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. suit — in cards
  24. wind — moving air

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