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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  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. firm — decided
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. race — the arms race
  5. firm — a company
  6. tube — the underground
  7. court — of law
  8. court — of a king
  9. prune — to trim
  10. present — a gift
  11. kid — child
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. firm — steady
  14. court — for sport
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. tube — a container
  17. present — the time now
  18. present — there
  19. race — humankind
  20. cold — not warm
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cold — an illness
  23. kid — to tease
  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