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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. cold — not warm
  3. shower — to wash
  4. race — the arms race
  5. cell — in biology
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. capital — money
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. cap — a hat
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cap — of ice
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. bark — to shout
  18. race — humankind
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. cell — a phone
  21. capital — a city
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. shower — rain
  24. cap — a lid

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