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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. race — humankind
  3. pitch — completely
  4. spring — the season
  5. race — a contest
  6. bat — the animal
  7. row — a line
  8. charge — a price
  9. charge — in control
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. spring — of water
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. row — to paddle
  20. race — the arms race
  21. spring — a coil
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. charge — electricity

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