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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: race · net · dip · cold · wind · cell

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. race — a contest
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — humankind
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cold — not warm
  12. net — for catching
  13. dip — to sink
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. net — after costs
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cell — in biology
  18. net — in sport

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