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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. land — a country
  3. deal — to handle
  4. fall — to drop
  5. rule — government
  6. race — a contest
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. race — the arms race
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. degree — temperature
  11. land — ground
  12. land — to come down
  13. cap — a hat
  14. degree — an amount
  15. race — humankind
  16. cap — of ice
  17. degree — from a university
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. fall — to drop
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. cap — a lid
  24. rule — a law

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