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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: kick · dip · march · cold · mine · tear · fall · race

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. fall — to drop
  5. tear — from crying
  6. kick — in football
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. tear — to rip
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. race — a contest
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mine — for digging
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. dip — to sink
  15. march — the month
  16. cold — an illness
  17. tear — from crying
  18. fall — to drop
  19. race — humankind
  20. race — the arms race
  21. march — music
  22. fall — the season
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. march — the month

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