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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. race — the arms race
  3. race — a contest
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. race — humankind
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. mine — for digging
  8. shower — rain
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. scale — in music
  11. club — for golf
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. fork — in a road
  14. club — a group
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. club — for dancing
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. scale — size or range

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