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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — the arms race
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. cell — in biology
  7. rock — a stone
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bat — the animal
  10. race — humankind
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. present — the time now
  19. rock — music
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. present — a gift
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. present — there

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