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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 116 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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  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 — the Cold War
  2. cap — a lid
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. cold — an illness
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. rock — music
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cap — of ice
  13. race — humankind
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — a subject
  17. rock — a stone
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. field — farmland
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. race — a contest
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. cap — a hat
  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