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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 116 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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  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. ball — a great time
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. last — finally
  7. last — final
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. race — humankind
  11. pit — in a race
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. race — a contest
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. pit — a hole
  16. game — wild animals
  17. sharp — clever
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. last — to go on
  21. game — a match
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. ball — a dance
  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