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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: saw · cold · mark · race · board · chest · content · fine

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. fine — all right
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. chest — a box
  6. mark — a grade
  7. content — the amount
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. fine — high quality
  10. board — a committee
  11. board — to get on
  12. mark — a trace
  13. content — happy
  14. saw — the tool
  15. chest — of your body
  16. saw — the tool
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — humankind
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. cold — not warm
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. chest — of your body
  24. race — the arms race

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