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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. pop — music
  5. race — humankind
  6. cold — an illness
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. chip — for betting
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pop — soda
  11. plane — a tool
  12. lie — to recline
  13. race — the arms race
  14. march — the month
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. chip — to eat
  17. pop — to visit
  18. march — the month
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. race — a contest
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. lie — an untruth

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