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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. pop — soda
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. roll — a list
  7. pop — to visit
  8. pop — music
  9. roll — a cake
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. race — humankind
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. race — the arms race
  18. race — a contest
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. ball — a dance
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fork — in a road
  24. ball — a great time

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