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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. game — a match
  3. bat — the animal
  4. club — for dancing
  5. race — the arms race
  6. mug — to rob
  7. mug — a cup
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. sharp — clever
  10. club — for golf
  11. stem — to come from
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. clip — a video
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. mug — a face
  17. club — a group
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. race — humankind
  20. game — wild animals
  21. clip — for paper
  22. race — a contest
  23. clip — to cut
  24. stem — of a plant

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