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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. net — for catching
  4. tear — from crying
  5. game — a match
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. roll — a list
  10. bank — for money
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. net — in sport
  13. roll — a cake
  14. race — the arms race
  15. race — humankind
  16. bank — for money
  17. game — wild animals
  18. tear — to rip
  19. bank — of a river
  20. cap — a hat
  21. race — a contest
  22. tear — from crying
  23. net — after costs
  24. game — a kind of play

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