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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mug — a cup
  5. can — a tin
  6. drill — a practice
  7. pop — music
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. cap — a hat
  10. mug — to rob
  11. cap — a lid
  12. drill — the tool
  13. can — a tin
  14. race — the arms race
  15. cap — of ice
  16. pop — soda
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. race — a contest
  19. pop — to visit
  20. mug — a face
  21. cold — an illness
  22. drill — army training
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. race — humankind

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