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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. bulb — for light
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. race — the arms race
  8. hand — in cards
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. kid — to tease
  11. pitch — completely
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. kid — child
  14. race — a contest
  15. ground — the earth
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. bulb — for light
  18. last — to go on
  19. race — humankind
  20. ground — crushed
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. ground — a position
  24. hand — help

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