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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  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. wind — moving air
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. rash — hasty
  5. race — the arms race
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. file — a tool
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. file — a line of people
  12. race — a contest
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. press — newspapers
  17. race — humankind
  18. wind — moving air
  19. file — a document
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. press — a publisher
  22. kid — child
  23. press — to push
  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