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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 116 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. race — a contest
  3. content — the amount
  4. cold — an illness
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — help
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. race — humankind
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. pit — a hole
  13. race — the arms race
  14. pit — in a race
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. lean — to bend
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. content — happy
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. game — wild animals
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. lean — thin

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