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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. race — a contest
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. kid — child
  6. bat — the animal
  7. race — humankind
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — size or range
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. file — a document
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. file — a tool
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. kid — to tease
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. file — a line of people
  22. lie — to recline
  23. scale — in music
  24. bat — in an idiom

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