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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. march — music
  4. race — humankind
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. last — to go on
  7. bat — the animal
  8. race — the arms race
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. cap — of ice
  12. last — final
  13. last — finally
  14. cap — a hat
  15. cold — not warm
  16. rule — government
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rule — a law
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. stand — to bear
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. race — a contest

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