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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 120 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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. shower — to wash
  3. game — wild animals
  4. club — for golf
  5. club — a group
  6. club — for dancing
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pop — soda
  11. tear — from crying
  12. race — the arms race
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. root — of a plant
  15. chest — of your body
  16. tear — to rip
  17. root — of a word
  18. game — a match
  19. race — humankind
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. root — the cause
  22. shower — rain
  23. tear — from crying
  24. race — a contest

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