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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: cap · race · row · bark · cue · cold · pop · scale

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. scale — size or range
  4. cold — an illness
  5. scale — in music
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. cap — a lid
  8. row — to paddle
  9. race — a contest
  10. pop — to visit
  11. cue — a signal
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bark — to shout
  14. pop — soda
  15. race — the arms race
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. cold — not warm
  18. row — a line
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cue — a hint
  22. pop — music
  23. race — humankind
  24. scale — for weighing

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