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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. can — a tin
  4. saw — the tool
  5. last — final
  6. cold — an illness
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. race — a contest
  9. cold — not warm
  10. swing — music
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. can — to be able to
  13. race — humankind
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. last — to go on
  17. swing — in golf
  18. capital — money
  19. last — finally
  20. saw — the tool
  21. swing — to play on
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. race — the arms race

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