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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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. race — the arms race
  5. race — humankind
  6. mate — a partner
  7. chest — of your body
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. chest — a box
  12. spring — the season
  13. bass — the fish
  14. spring — of water
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. mate — a friend
  17. mate — to breed
  18. cell — a phone
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bass — low music
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. chest — of your body
  24. race — a contest

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