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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. chest — of your body
  3. key — for a lock
  4. file — a line of people
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. key — the most important part
  7. squash — to crush
  8. race — a contest
  9. kid — child
  10. chest — of your body
  11. kid — to tease
  12. race — the arms race
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. file — a document
  15. key — in music
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. pit — a hole
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. pit — in a race
  21. file — a tool
  22. chest — a box
  23. race — humankind
  24. squash — the vegetable

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