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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. last — finally
  3. scale — size or range
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — the arms race
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. last — final
  12. last — to go on
  13. sharp — clever
  14. squash — to crush
  15. snap — to click
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. scale — in music
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. fine — high quality
  21. race — humankind
  22. fine — all right
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. vault — a safe

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