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

Word bank: bat · cold · content · ruler · rock · race

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. content — the amount
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. rock — a stone
  6. race — a contest
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. content — happy
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. race — the arms race
  13. race — humankind
  14. bat — the animal
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rock — music
  18. cold — not warm

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