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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. race — humankind
  4. game — a match
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. snap — to click
  8. rush — hurry
  9. hand — help
  10. game — wild animals
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. swing — in golf
  13. field — a subject
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — for sport
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. kick — in football
  19. swing — music
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. swing — to play on
  22. race — the arms race
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. hand — in cards

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