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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. race — a contest
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. land — ground
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. pop — music
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pop — soda
  12. cold — not warm
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. branch — a division
  15. race — the arms race
  16. game — a match
  17. sharp — clever
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. land — to come down
  20. land — a country
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pop — to visit
  24. branch — of a bank

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