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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. degree — an amount
  6. cold — an illness
  7. last — finally
  8. club — for golf
  9. can — a tin
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. club — a group
  12. band — a ring
  13. lie — to recline
  14. can — to be able to
  15. kid — to tease
  16. last — to go on
  17. degree — temperature
  18. last — final
  19. club — for dancing
  20. can — a tin
  21. band — a music group
  22. degree — from a university
  23. kid — child
  24. lie — an untruth

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