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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. dip — to sink
  3. swing — to play on
  4. tear — to rip
  5. cold — not warm
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. swing — in golf
  8. race — a contest
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. court — of a king
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. swing — music
  14. cold — an illness
  15. tear — from crying
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. court — of law
  18. cap — of ice
  19. tear — from crying
  20. race — humankind
  21. cap — a hat
  22. race — the arms race
  23. court — for sport
  24. cap — a lid

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