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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: march · cold · race · hide · object · last

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. last — to go on
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. object — to protest
  5. march — the month
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — the arms race
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. march — the month
  10. last — finally
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. cold — not warm
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. last — final
  15. march — music
  16. race — a contest
  17. object — a thing
  18. cold — an illness

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