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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. capital — a city
  4. shower — rain
  5. rest — what's left
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. cold — not warm
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — a break
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — of water
  14. stand — to bear
  15. bat — the animal
  16. shower — to wash
  17. cell — in biology
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. cell — a phone
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. spring — the season
  24. capital — money

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