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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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. mine — for digging
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. row — a line
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. pitch — completely
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. race — humankind
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. game — wild animals
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. date — the fruit
  17. race — a contest
  18. row — to paddle
  19. race — the arms race
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. game — a match
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. mine — belonging to me
  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