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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: snap · ruler · court · cold · race · drill · last · toast

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. toast — bread
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. last — to go on
  6. drill — the tool
  7. cold — an illness
  8. race — humankind
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. last — final
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. drill — army training
  15. drill — a practice
  16. race — the arms race
  17. cold — not warm
  18. court — of a king
  19. race — a contest
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. court — of law
  22. snap — to click
  23. court — for sport
  24. last — finally

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