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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 116 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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. charge — in control
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. land — a country
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. content — happy
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. charge — electricity
  11. land — to come down
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. bat — the animal
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. charge — a price
  17. content — the amount
  18. race — the arms race
  19. sharp — clever
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. race — humankind
  22. land — ground
  23. bat — for baseball
  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