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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. land — to come down
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. march — music
  9. race — the arms race
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. cold — an illness
  12. tube — the underground
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. rule — a law
  15. race — humankind
  16. rule — government
  17. march — the month
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. tube — a container
  20. cold — not warm
  21. race — a contest
  22. march — the month
  23. season — of the year
  24. season — in sport

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