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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 120 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. rest — what's left
  4. club — for dancing
  5. cell — in biology
  6. wound — an injury
  7. last — finally
  8. rest — what's left
  9. wound — an injury
  10. last — final
  11. kid — to tease
  12. current — of water
  13. current — electric
  14. race — the arms race
  15. rest — a break
  16. club — for golf
  17. race — humankind
  18. last — to go on
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. current — happening now
  21. cell — a phone
  22. club — a group
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. kid — child

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