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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 116 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: hand · cold · pop · cap · race · staff · scale · game

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. cap — of ice
  3. pop — music
  4. staff — employees
  5. cap — a lid
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a match
  10. cold — an illness
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — help
  13. staff — a stick
  14. scale — in music
  15. race — humankind
  16. staff — employees
  17. cap — a hat
  18. pop — soda
  19. cold — not warm
  20. pop — to visit
  21. race — a contest
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. race — the arms race
  24. hand — in cards

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