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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. race — a contest
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cold — not warm
  7. hand — help
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. cold — an illness
  10. can — to be able to
  11. can — a tin
  12. press — a publisher
  13. race — humankind
  14. fork — in a road
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. hand — in cards
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. press — to push
  20. press — newspapers
  21. race — the arms race
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. can — a tin
  24. cold — the Cold War

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