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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. wound — an injury
  4. race — humankind
  5. tube — the underground
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. hand — in cards
  8. game — wild animals
  9. stand — to bear
  10. ball — a great time
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. tube — a container
  14. ball — a dance
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. hand — help
  17. game — a match
  18. race — a contest
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. wound — an injury
  22. race — the arms race
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. fan — to cool the air

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