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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 a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. race — humankind
  4. cold — not warm
  5. race — the arms race
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. cap — a hat
  8. land — a country
  9. cap — a lid
  10. march — music
  11. bark — to shout
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. march — the month
  14. wax — to grow
  15. race — a contest
  16. land — to come down
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. spell — letters
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. spell — magic
  21. land — ground
  22. spell — a short time
  23. cap — of ice
  24. march — the month

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