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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. race — the arms race
  6. game — wild animals
  7. board — to get on
  8. board — a committee
  9. row — a line
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. roll — a cake
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. row — to paddle
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. race — a contest
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. race — humankind
  22. bat — the animal
  23. roll — a list
  24. prune — the fruit

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