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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  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. rush — a thrill
  2. race — humankind
  3. bat — the animal
  4. mine — for digging
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. swing — music
  8. race — a contest
  9. lean — to bend
  10. cap — of ice
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. swing — to play on
  13. rush — hurry
  14. swing — in golf
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cap — a hat
  19. lean — thin
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. cap — a lid
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. wound — an injury
  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