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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. toast — bread
  4. mine — for digging
  5. race — a contest
  6. pop — music
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. pop — soda
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. wind — moving air
  15. ground — a position
  16. ground — the earth
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. pop — to visit
  19. race — the arms race
  20. race — humankind
  21. ground — crushed
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. mine — an explosive

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