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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. race — humankind
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. march — the month
  7. tube — the underground
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. tear — to rip
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. race — a contest
  13. march — music
  14. tube — a container
  15. cold — an illness
  16. tear — from crying
  17. march — the month
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. court — for sport
  20. race — the arms race
  21. kick — in football
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. tear — from crying

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