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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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Word bank
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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. race — a contest
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pop — to visit
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. kid — child
  9. race — humankind
  10. kid — to tease
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cold — not warm
  13. race — the arms race
  14. land — to come down
  15. fall — the season
  16. fork — in a road
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. pop — music
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. land — a country
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. land — ground
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. coach — a trainer

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