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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  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. bat — the animal
  2. mark — a grade
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. prune — to trim
  5. race — humankind
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. prune — to trim
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. chip — to eat
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. race — the arms race
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. mark — a trace
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. roll — a list
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. roll — a cake
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. chip — for betting
  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