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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  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. cabinet — ministers
  2. squash — to crush
  3. bat — the animal
  4. race — humankind
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. race — a contest
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cell — a phone
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. charge — in control
  14. squash — the sport
  15. charge — a price
  16. chest — of your body
  17. game — a match
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. charge — electricity
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. chest — a box
  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