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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  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. cap — a lid
  2. race — the arms race
  3. cold — not warm
  4. chip — to eat
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. race — a contest
  8. wound — an injury
  9. chip — for betting
  10. race — humankind
  11. cap — a hat
  12. rash — a series
  13. rash — hasty
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. plane — a tool
  16. cap — of ice
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. plane — an aircraft
  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