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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. race — the arms race
  3. race — humankind
  4. rest — a break
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. bass — low music
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bass — the fish
  12. shower — rain
  13. tube — a container
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. rest — what's left
  16. cold — an illness
  17. race — a contest
  18. tube — the underground
  19. bark — to shout
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a match
  23. rest — what's left
  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