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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. fall — to drop
  3. race — the arms race
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. fine — all right
  6. bat — the animal
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. rash — hasty
  9. squash — the sport
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. race — a contest
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wound — an injury
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. wind — moving air
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. race — humankind
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. fine — high quality
  22. fall — the season
  23. squash — to crush
  24. wound — an injury

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