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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. hand — in cards
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. hand — help
  6. toast — bread
  7. clip — to cut
  8. court — of a king
  9. clip — a video
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. bat — the animal
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. court — of law
  14. race — humankind
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. clip — for paper
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. court — for sport
  24. race — a contest

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