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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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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: leaves · cell · race · nail · stick · cold

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cold — an illness
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. cell — in biology
  8. race — a contest
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — the arms race
  18. cell — in a prison

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