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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bound — certain
  3. race — a contest
  4. wind — moving air
  5. last — to go on
  6. wind — moving air
  7. rest — a break
  8. swing — in golf
  9. cold — not warm
  10. race — the arms race
  11. cap — a hat
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. cap — of ice
  14. rest — what's left
  15. race — humankind
  16. last — final
  17. rest — what's left
  18. cold — an illness
  19. last — finally
  20. swing — to play on
  21. bound — obliged
  22. cap — a lid
  23. bound — tied together
  24. swing — music

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