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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 116 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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. race — humankind
  3. kid — to tease
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. spell — a short time
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. season — in sport
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. race — the arms race
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stem — to come from
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. season — of the year
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. spell — letters
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. rock — a stone
  19. race — a contest
  20. spell — magic
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. rock — music
  24. cold — an illness

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