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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: race · bark · ball · cap · mate · stand · wound · cold

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. 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. race — humankind
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. mate — a partner
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. cap — a hat
  7. wound — an injury
  8. ball — a dance
  9. race — a contest
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cap — a lid
  12. ball — a great time
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mate — to breed
  15. cap — of ice
  16. stand — to bear
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. bark — to shout
  19. mate — a friend
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. race — the arms race
  24. 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