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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. race — humankind
  3. race — the arms race
  4. bat — the animal
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bore — to drill
  11. rush — hurry
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. game — a match
  15. bore — to tire
  16. pound — a weight
  17. cold — not warm
  18. race — a contest
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. rush — a thrill

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