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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. cap — of ice
  3. cold — not warm
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. cold — an illness
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. ball — a great time
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. cap — a lid
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. ball — a dance
  12. race — a contest
  13. object — an aim
  14. object — a thing
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. object — to protest
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — the arms race
  22. pass — a permit
  23. cap — a hat
  24. wind — to turn a key

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