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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  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. tube — the underground
  2. game — a match
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. game — wild animals
  6. spring — a coil
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. hand — help
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. tube — a container
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — the season
  13. net — in sport
  14. toast — bread
  15. net — for catching
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. hand — in cards
  20. race — the arms race
  21. net — after costs
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. race — humankind
  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