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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — the animal
  3. game — a match
  4. firm — a company
  5. firm — steady
  6. bank — for money
  7. clip — a video
  8. hand — help
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. clip — for paper
  11. firm — decided
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. race — a contest
  14. game — wild animals
  15. race — humankind
  16. bank — of a river
  17. roll — a cake
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. race — the arms race
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. hand — in cards
  23. roll — a list
  24. bank — for money

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