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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. drill — a practice
  3. cold — an illness
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. mark — a trace
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. mark — a grade
  9. race — the arms race
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. drill — the tool
  12. pit — in a race
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. rash — hasty
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. cold — not warm
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. snap — to click
  19. race — humankind
  20. race — a contest
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. pit — a hole
  23. drill — army training
  24. rash — a series

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