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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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Word bank
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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: cabinet · race · cold · tube · season · lie · bay · land

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. land — to come down
  3. race — humankind
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — the arms race
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. land — a country
  10. season — of the year
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. tube — a container
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. land — ground
  16. cold — an illness
  17. tube — the underground
  18. season — in sport
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. lie — to recline
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. cold — not warm
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. tube — in a tire

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