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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. last — final
  3. hand — help
  4. ball — a great time
  5. mug — to rob
  6. race — humankind
  7. hand — in cards
  8. mug — a cup
  9. last — to go on
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. mug — a face
  13. swing — music
  14. swing — to play on
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. wax — to grow
  17. ball — a dance
  18. stock — shares
  19. race — a contest
  20. swing — in golf
  21. stock — goods
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. last — finally
  24. race — the arms race

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