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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. field — for sport
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. rule — a law
  6. field — farmland
  7. object — a thing
  8. spell — a short time
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. wound — an injury
  11. rule — government
  12. spell — letters
  13. race — a contest
  14. race — humankind
  15. wound — an injury
  16. object — an aim
  17. race — the arms race
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. cold — an illness
  20. object — to protest
  21. field — a subject
  22. cold — not warm
  23. spell — magic
  24. rule — to rule out

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