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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 120 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. squash — to crush
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. bat — the animal
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. race — the arms race
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. pound — a weight
  14. squash — the sport
  15. race — humankind
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. race — a contest
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. mine — for digging
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. wave — with your hand

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