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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. ground — crushed
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. track — a song
  6. perch — the fish
  7. cell — a phone
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — for catching
  11. race — humankind
  12. track — to keep track
  13. date — the fruit
  14. track — a path
  15. net — after costs
  16. cell — in biology
  17. ground — a position
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. race — the arms race
  20. ground — the earth
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. date — on the calendar

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