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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. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. race — humankind
  5. spring — the season
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — for digging
  8. cue — a signal
  9. snap — to click
  10. race — a contest
  11. cold — an illness
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. cold — not warm
  14. spring — of water
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. spring — a coil
  17. cue — for pool
  18. race — the arms race
  19. cue — a hint
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. plane — a tool
  24. plane — in geometry

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