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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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. spring — the season
  7. race — humankind
  8. spring — a coil
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. cold — an illness
  11. spring — of water
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. stand — to bear
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. kid — child
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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