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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 124 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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. ground — a position
  3. race — a contest
  4. pop — music
  5. ground — crushed
  6. pop — soda
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. wound — an injury
  9. rash — a series
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. game — wild animals
  12. wound — an injury
  13. pop — to visit
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. ground — the earth
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rush — hurry
  18. race — the arms race
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. game — a match
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. race — humankind
  24. rush — to hurry

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