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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 120 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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. net — after costs
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. rest — a break
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. race — a contest
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. band — a music group
  12. prune — to trim
  13. net — for catching
  14. race — the arms race
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. band — a ring
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — what's left
  22. net — in sport
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. nail — for a hammer

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