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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. pop — to visit
  3. bat — the animal
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. race — humankind
  7. pop — soda
  8. race — a contest
  9. hand — help
  10. chest — a box
  11. chest — of your body
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. pop — music
  15. hand — in cards
  16. snap — to click
  17. firm — steady
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. firm — a company
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. race — the arms race

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