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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. race — humankind
  5. race — a contest
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cue — for pool
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. deal — to handle
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. cue — a signal
  17. cell — in biology
  18. race — the arms race
  19. clip — to cut
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. march — the month
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. cue — a hint
  24. hide — to keep secret

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