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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. mate — a partner
  4. race — a contest
  5. clip — for paper
  6. swing — music
  7. clip — to cut
  8. squash — the sport
  9. squash — to crush
  10. game — a match
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. clip — a video
  13. mate — to breed
  14. last — final
  15. last — finally
  16. vault — a safe
  17. game — wild animals
  18. race — humankind
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. swing — to play on
  21. race — the arms race
  22. swing — in golf
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. last — to go on

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