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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. cold — an illness
  3. march — the month
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — the animal
  10. cold — not warm
  11. rash — hasty
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. land — ground
  14. bark — to shout
  15. rash — a series
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. land — a country
  19. march — music
  20. march — the month
  21. race — humankind
  22. bear — the animal
  23. land — to come down
  24. race — a contest

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