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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. race — the arms race
  3. chest — a box
  4. net — after costs
  5. spring — of water
  6. bark — to shout
  7. spring — a coil
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. pitch — completely
  10. chest — of your body
  11. spring — the season
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bulb — for light
  15. race — humankind
  16. bulb — for light
  17. drill — the tool
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. net — in sport
  20. net — for catching
  21. drill — a practice
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. drill — army training
  24. chest — of your body

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