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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. fall — to drop
  3. race — the arms race
  4. fall — the season
  5. squash — the sport
  6. tube — a container
  7. land — ground
  8. press — to push
  9. cold — an illness
  10. squash — to crush
  11. cue — for pool
  12. press — a publisher
  13. land — to come down
  14. land — a country
  15. fall — to drop
  16. race — humankind
  17. cue — a signal
  18. cold — not warm
  19. press — newspapers
  20. race — a contest
  21. cue — a hint
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. cold — the Cold War

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