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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. net — for catching
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. net — after costs
  6. last — final
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. last — to go on
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. net — in sport
  11. kick — in football
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. file — a tool
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. object — a thing
  17. object — to protest
  18. object — an aim
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — a contest
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a line of people
  24. race — the arms race

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