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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pop — music
  4. file — a line of people
  5. race — the arms race
  6. pop — soda
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. cold — an illness
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. file — a document
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. race — a contest
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. cold — not warm
  17. file — a tool
  18. dip — to sink
  19. wound — an injury
  20. cap — of ice
  21. race — humankind
  22. cap — a lid
  23. cap — a hat
  24. pop — to visit

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