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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cap — of ice
  5. race — humankind
  6. face — to confront
  7. cold — an illness
  8. land — a country
  9. cue — a signal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bulb — for light
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. cap — a hat
  14. race — a contest
  15. bulb — for light
  16. land — ground
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cue — for pool
  19. face — part of the head
  20. cue — a hint
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. cap — a lid
  23. land — to come down
  24. race — the arms race

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