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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: cold · ball · pop · cell · race · cap · spring · fork

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. fork — in a road
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pop — soda
  5. ball — a great time
  6. race — humankind
  7. ball — a dance
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. cell — in biology
  11. pop — music
  12. spring — of water
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pop — to visit
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cap — a lid
  20. spring — a coil
  21. race — a contest
  22. spring — the season
  23. cap — a hat
  24. fork — a garden tool

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