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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. race — humankind
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. club — a group
  6. can — to be able to
  7. can — a tin
  8. can — a tin
  9. degree — an amount
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. club — for golf
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. degree — from a university
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. game — a match
  17. race — a contest
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. club — for dancing
  20. wake — a trail
  21. degree — temperature
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. race — the arms race
  24. game — wild animals

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