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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. land — to come down
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — the season
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. file — a line of people
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — the arms race
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rock — music
  14. land — ground
  15. cold — an illness
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. race — humankind
  18. land — a country
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. fall — to drop
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a document
  23. season — of the year
  24. rock — a stone

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