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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. race — humankind
  3. race — a contest
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. craft — a skill
  6. lean — to bend
  7. file — a line of people
  8. race — the arms race
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. file — a tool
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. craft — boats
  16. cold — an illness
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. file — a document
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. kick — in football
  23. lean — thin
  24. cold — not warm

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