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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. race — humankind
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. land — to come down
  5. shower — to wash
  6. land — ground
  7. bark — to shout
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bass — the fish
  13. land — a country
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. shower — rain
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. bass — low music
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. race — a contest
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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