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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 124 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. race — humankind
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cap — a lid
  6. tear — from crying
  7. race — a contest
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — not warm
  10. mark — a trace
  11. shower — rain
  12. mark — a grade
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. cap — of ice
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. tear — to rip
  20. shower — to wash
  21. rash — a series
  22. tear — from crying
  23. toast — bread
  24. race — the arms race

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