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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. cold — an illness
  3. race — humankind
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fall — to drop
  6. ground — the earth
  7. cold — not warm
  8. ground — a position
  9. race — the arms race
  10. kid — child
  11. race — a contest
  12. swing — to play on
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. swing — in golf
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. cue — a hint
  17. swing — music
  18. cue — for pool
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cue — a signal
  21. ground — crushed
  22. kid — to tease
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. fall — to drop

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