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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. march — music
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. cold — not warm
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. foot — a measure
  7. race — humankind
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. march — the month
  12. scale — size or range
  13. roll — a list
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. march — the month
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. race — the arms race
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. roll — a cake
  23. race — a contest
  24. scale — in 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