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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. pitch — completely
  3. race — a contest
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. game — a match
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. wake — a trail
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. mine — for digging
  11. shower — to wash
  12. game — wild animals
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. shower — rain
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. race — the arms race
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. bat — the animal

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