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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — humankind
  6. present — a gift
  7. perch — the fish
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. present — the time now
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. date — the fruit
  17. tube — the underground
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. stand — to bear
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. tube — a container
  22. kick — in football
  23. present — there
  24. race — the arms race

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