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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. lean — thin
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. firm — steady
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bark — to shout
  7. firm — a company
  8. cold — not warm
  9. lean — to bend
  10. ball — a great time
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. cell — a phone
  13. race — the arms race
  14. mine — for digging
  15. ball — a dance
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. cell — in biology
  21. race — humankind
  22. cold — an illness
  23. firm — decided
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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