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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. rash — hasty
  3. ground — a position
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. ground — crushed
  8. rock — a stone
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. shower — rain
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. race — a contest
  17. rock — music
  18. race — the arms race
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. rash — a series
  21. shower — to wash
  22. race — humankind
  23. ground — the earth
  24. trunk — of a tree

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