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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 take my ________________ from you.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. face — to confront
  3. row — to paddle
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. pop — to visit
  6. face — part of the head
  7. race — a contest
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. race — the arms race
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. face — to point toward
  12. cue — for pool
  13. kid — child
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pop — music
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — the animal
  18. row — a line
  19. cue — a signal
  20. kid — to tease
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. pop — soda
  23. cold — not warm
  24. race — humankind

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