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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 116 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. race — the arms race
  6. kid — to tease
  7. race — humankind
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. chip — for betting
  11. net — after costs
  12. chip — to eat
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. hand — help
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bass — the fish
  18. kid — child
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. bass — low music
  21. net — for catching
  22. dip — to sink
  23. net — in sport
  24. hand — in cards

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