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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. tear — from crying
  5. fall — to drop
  6. hand — help
  7. cold — not warm
  8. capital — money
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. mug — to rob
  13. fall — to drop
  14. race — a contest
  15. tear — from crying
  16. capital — a city
  17. mug — a face
  18. mug — a cup
  19. race — the arms race
  20. tear — to rip
  21. cold — an illness
  22. race — humankind
  23. rush — hurry
  24. rush — a thrill

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