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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. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. race — a contest
  5. scale — size or range
  6. cold — not warm
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. race — humankind
  9. march — the month
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. march — music
  17. vault — a safe
  18. content — happy
  19. content — the amount
  20. scale — in music
  21. march — the month
  22. race — the arms race
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. capital — money

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