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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. race — the arms race
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. cap — a lid
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. pop — music
  7. cap — a hat
  8. race — humankind
  9. race — a contest
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. game — wild animals
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cap — of ice
  14. face — to point toward
  15. game — a match
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pop — to visit
  18. face — to confront
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. pop — soda
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — for digging
  24. face — part of the head

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