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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 120 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: race · bat · cold · foot · squash · bear · march · stand

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. cold — not warm
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. foot — a measure
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bat — the animal
  11. stand — to bear
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. race — humankind
  14. march — the month
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. race — the arms race
  17. squash — the sport
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. bear — the animal
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. race — a contest
  22. squash — to crush
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. march — music

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