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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. race — humankind
  3. game — wild animals
  4. last — final
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. root — the cause
  7. root — of a plant
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. race — the arms race
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. race — a contest
  13. last — finally
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. mine — for digging
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. root — of a word
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. last — to go on
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. leaves — to go away

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