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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. race — a contest
  5. tear — to rip
  6. mug — to rob
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. cell — in biology
  9. mug — a face
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. chair — a leader
  14. mug — a cup
  15. game — a match
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. tear — from crying
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. game — wild animals
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. plane — a tool
  22. race — the arms race
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. cell — a phone

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