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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. rest — what's left
  4. kid — child
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. mark — a grade
  7. staff — employees
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. race — a contest
  12. game — a match
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — a break
  16. game — wild animals
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. race — the arms race
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. mark — a trace
  21. staff — a stick
  22. staff — employees
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. race — humankind

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