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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — the arms race
  4. track — a path
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. sharp — clever
  7. bat — the animal
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. race — humankind
  10. track — a song
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. land — a country
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. land — ground
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. march — the month
  18. land — to come down
  19. march — music
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. march — the month
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. sharp — exactly

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