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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. spell — letters
  3. can — to be able to
  4. can — a tin
  5. club — for golf
  6. saw — the tool
  7. land — a country
  8. race — humankind
  9. bat — the animal
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. land — to come down
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. spell — a short time
  14. board — a committee
  15. land — ground
  16. can — a tin
  17. board — to get on
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. club — a group
  20. race — the arms race
  21. spell — magic
  22. race — a contest
  23. saw — the tool
  24. bat — for baseball

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