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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. ground — a position
  3. date — the fruit
  4. cell — a phone
  5. game — wild animals
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. rest — a break
  8. ground — the earth
  9. land — to come down
  10. race — humankind
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. ground — crushed
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cell — in biology
  16. land — ground
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. race — a contest
  19. rest — what's left
  20. land — a country
  21. race — the arms race
  22. rest — what's left
  23. bore — to tire
  24. bore — to drill

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