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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. squash — the sport
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. cold — an illness
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. game — wild animals
  9. race — humankind
  10. cold — not warm
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — the arms race
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. squash — to crush
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. craft — a skill
  18. content — the amount
  19. content — happy
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. craft — boats
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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