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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. spell — letters
  3. spring — the season
  4. rock — a stone
  5. race — humankind
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. rock — music
  8. spell — magic
  9. spring — a coil
  10. cap — of ice
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. cap — a hat
  13. cold — an illness
  14. race — a contest
  15. spell — a short time
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cap — a lid
  19. spring — of water
  20. cold — not warm
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. race — the arms race
  23. foot — a measure
  24. racket — for tennis

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