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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. lean — thin
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. lean — to bend
  6. race — humankind
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. hand — in cards
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. pitch — completely
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. sharp — clever
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. firm — a company
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. race — a contest
  19. bat — the animal
  20. race — the arms race
  21. firm — steady
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. firm — decided
  24. bat — in an idiom

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