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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. race — humankind
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. pit — in a race
  5. hand — help
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. race — a contest
  8. club — for dancing
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mark — a grade
  11. hand — in cards
  12. mark — a trace
  13. bat — the animal
  14. pit — a hole
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. club — a group
  18. race — the arms race
  19. chip — to eat
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. chip — for betting
  24. chip — in a computer

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