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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. race — a contest
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. squash — the sport
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. root — of a word
  9. game — a match
  10. race — humankind
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. race — the arms race
  15. stock — shares
  16. band — a music group
  17. root — of a plant
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. squash — to crush
  21. band — a ring
  22. root — the cause
  23. stock — goods
  24. game — wild animals

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