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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. wound — an injury
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bank — for money
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bass — the fish
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. snap — to click
  11. race — a contest
  12. pit — a hole
  13. net — for catching
  14. bass — low music
  15. net — in sport
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. pit — in a race
  19. race — the arms race
  20. bank — of a river
  21. bank — for money
  22. net — after costs
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. race — humankind

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