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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. fine — all right
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fine — high quality
  12. capital — money
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — humankind
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. kid — to tease
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. fall — the season
  20. pound — a weight
  21. kid — child
  22. race — a contest
  23. fall — to drop
  24. capital — a city

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