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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. game — wild animals
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. key — in music
  7. game — a match
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. saw — the tool
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. race — the arms race
  13. cold — an illness
  14. key — for a lock
  15. plane — a tool
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bat — the animal
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — humankind
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. key — the most important part
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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