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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. ground — a position
  3. press — to push
  4. press — a publisher
  5. spring — the season
  6. race — the arms race
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. race — a contest
  10. cold — not warm
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. ground — the earth
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. press — newspapers
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. spring — of water
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. spring — a coil
  22. ground — crushed
  23. cold — an illness
  24. racket — a loud noise

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