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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 124 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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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. drill — the tool
  4. race — the arms race
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. chip — for betting
  7. drill — a practice
  8. drill — army training
  9. net — in sport
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cue — for pool
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — for catching
  14. row — to paddle
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — for paper
  17. row — a line
  18. chip — to eat
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cue — a signal
  22. cue — a hint
  23. race — humankind
  24. cold — an illness

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