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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. can — a tin
  3. race — the arms race
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. hand — in cards
  7. can — to be able to
  8. race — humankind
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — the sport
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. race — a contest
  14. hand — help
  15. field — for sport
  16. can — a tin
  17. kid — to tease
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — a phone
  20. field — farmland
  21. squash — to crush
  22. field — a subject
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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