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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. chair — a leader
  3. band — a ring
  4. cap — of ice
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. race — a contest
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. race — humankind
  9. cold — an illness
  10. kick — in football
  11. race — the arms race
  12. cap — a hat
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. spring — a coil
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. spring — the season
  22. band — a music group
  23. spring — of water
  24. chair — a professorship

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