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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 · cap · squash · cold · bay · kid · chair · land

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. squash — the sport
  3. kid — child
  4. cap — a lid
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. squash — to crush
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. land — ground
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. land — a country
  14. cap — a hat
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. race — humankind
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. land — to come down
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. kid — to tease
  23. chair — a leader
  24. race — the arms race

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