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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. pop — to visit
  3. hand — help
  4. pop — soda
  5. mate — a friend
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. rest — what's left
  8. field — a subject
  9. cap — a lid
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. hand — in cards
  13. mate — to breed
  14. field — for sport
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. rest — what's left
  19. pop — music
  20. cap — of ice
  21. rest — a break
  22. cap — a hat
  23. mate — a partner
  24. field — farmland

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