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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — to crush
  4. file — a tool
  5. race — humankind
  6. tear — to rip
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cap — of ice
  12. squash — the sport
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cell — a phone
  15. race — a contest
  16. cue — a signal
  17. cell — in biology
  18. file — a line of people
  19. tear — from crying
  20. race — the arms race
  21. fall — the season
  22. cue — a hint
  23. cue — for pool
  24. file — a document

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