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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 120 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. cap — a hat
  3. game — a match
  4. race — a contest
  5. tear — to rip
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. cap — a lid
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. race — the arms race
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. kid — to tease
  17. cap — of ice
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. tear — from crying
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. stem — to come from
  24. race — humankind

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