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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 120 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wound — an injury
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. capital — a city
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. snap — to click
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cold — an illness
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. kid — child
  14. board — a committee
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. wound — an injury
  17. chair — a leader
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. board — to get on
  22. bear — the animal
  23. kid — to tease
  24. capital — money

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