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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. row — a line
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. rest — what's left
  5. mate — a friend
  6. pound — a weight
  7. bat — the animal
  8. race — humankind
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. mate — a partner
  12. season — in sport
  13. race — a contest
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. mate — to breed
  17. rest — what's left
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. content — happy
  21. race — the arms race
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. row — to paddle
  24. season — of the year

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