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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. race — the arms race
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. scale — size or range
  6. race — a contest
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. cold — not warm
  10. kid — to tease
  11. race — humankind
  12. scale — in music
  13. kid — child
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. cold — an illness
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. patient — a sick person

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