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

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cell — a phone
  4. race — humankind
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. degree — from a university
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — a contest
  10. stand — to bear
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. cold — an illness
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. degree — an amount
  17. cold — not warm
  18. stand — on your feet

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