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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. kid — child
  5. scale — in music
  6. race — the arms race
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. bass — the fish
  11. branch — a division
  12. court — for sport
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. scale — size or range
  16. court — of a king
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. pit — a hole
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. court — of law
  21. pit — in a race
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bass — low music
  24. arm — part of the body

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