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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. band — a ring
  3. spell — a short time
  4. bat — the animal
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. stem — to come from
  8. cold — not warm
  9. band — a music group
  10. land — ground
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. land — a country
  14. object — an aim
  15. spell — magic
  16. object — a thing
  17. spell — letters
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. land — to come down
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. cold — an illness
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. object — to protest

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