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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. rush — hurry
  3. kid — to tease
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. race — the arms race
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. race — a contest
  9. pop — soda
  10. pop — music
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. cold — an illness
  15. race — humankind
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. kid — child
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. cold — not warm
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. pop — to visit

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