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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. race — a contest
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. game — wild animals
  11. spring — a coil
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. game — a match
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. race — the arms race
  16. fork — in a road
  17. race — humankind
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. spring — the season
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. spring — of water
  24. coach — a trainer

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