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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. cold — not warm
  4. band — a ring
  5. cold — an illness
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. field — a subject
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. field — farmland
  11. band — a music group
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chair — a leader
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. rush — hurry
  16. track — to keep track
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. track — a song
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — in cards
  22. track — a path
  23. field — for sport
  24. hand — part of the body

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