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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 116 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. kid — to tease
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. spring — the season
  6. kid — child
  7. race — humankind
  8. bat — the animal
  9. perch — the fish
  10. chair — a leader
  11. mate — a partner
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. spring — of water
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. mate — a friend
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. mate — to breed
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. race — a contest
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. spring — a coil
  24. calf — a young animal

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