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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. cold — an illness
  5. race — the arms race
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bound — certain
  8. roll — a list
  9. swing — to play on
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. chair — a leader
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. swing — in golf
  17. wound — an injury
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. roll — a cake
  20. bound — obliged
  21. cold — not warm
  22. swing — music
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. roll — on a roll

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