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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. fork — in a road
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. race — the arms race
  5. cell — in biology
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. spell — letters
  9. bat — the animal
  10. game — wild animals
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. race — a contest
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. spell — a short time
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. dip — to sink
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. spell — magic
  21. race — humankind
  22. pass — a permit
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. game — a match

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