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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. race — a contest
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. wound — an injury
  5. kid — to tease
  6. game — a match
  7. kid — child
  8. race — the arms race
  9. wound — an injury
  10. last — finally
  11. land — ground
  12. land — a country
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. game — wild animals
  16. cell — in biology
  17. land — to come down
  18. last — to go on
  19. bore — to tire
  20. bore — to drill
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. last — final
  23. race — humankind
  24. game — a kind of play

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