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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: bear · club · pop · bowl · lie · lean · race · cold

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. club — for golf
  6. cold — an illness
  7. race — humankind
  8. pop — to visit
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bear — the animal
  11. lean — to bend
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. cold — not warm
  14. club — a group
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. race — the arms race
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. pop — music
  20. pop — soda
  21. race — a contest
  22. lie — to recline
  23. lean — thin
  24. bowl — a football final

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