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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. race — the arms race
  3. court — for sport
  4. cold — not warm
  5. race — a contest
  6. rock — a stone
  7. present — a gift
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. court — of a king
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. cold — an illness
  13. tear — to rip
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — to tease
  16. race — humankind
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. tear — from crying
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. rock — music
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. court — of law
  24. present — the time now

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