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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. cap — of ice
  3. race — a contest
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. file — a document
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. pop — music
  9. cap — a lid
  10. prune — to trim
  11. file — a line of people
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — army training
  14. file — a tool
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. race — the arms race
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. pop — to visit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. race — humankind
  22. drill — the tool
  23. bat — the animal
  24. cap — a hat

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