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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. present — there
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. content — the amount
  7. content — happy
  8. game — a match
  9. wake — a trail
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. race — a contest
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. race — the arms race
  14. cold — an illness
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. game — wild animals
  17. present — the time now
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. race — humankind
  24. cold — not warm

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