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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. cold — not warm
  3. race — humankind
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. drill — a practice
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — army training
  14. kid — child
  15. snap — to click
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. cold — an illness
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. pass — a permit
  21. scale — size or range
  22. race — the arms race
  23. kid — to tease
  24. scale — in music

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