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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. march — music
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. race — humankind
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cold — an illness
  8. row — to paddle
  9. cold — not warm
  10. current — electric
  11. content — the amount
  12. row — a line
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. content — happy
  16. march — the month
  17. plane — a tool
  18. march — the month
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. current — happening now
  21. race — a contest
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. current — of water

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