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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. content — happy
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. mine — for digging
  6. pit — in a race
  7. pit — a hole
  8. game — a match
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. content — the amount
  11. scale — in music
  12. game — wild animals
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. squash — to crush
  16. race — humankind
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. squash — the sport
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. scale — size or range
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. race — a contest
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. race — the arms race

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