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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. cap — of ice
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. drill — the tool
  6. cap — a hat
  7. race — humankind
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. drill — a practice
  10. kid — child
  11. branch — a division
  12. cap — a lid
  13. dip — to sink
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. race — the arms race
  16. drill — army training
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. kid — to tease
  21. race — a contest
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — the fruit
  24. wind — moving air

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