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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. tube — a container
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. race — humankind
  7. mug — to rob
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bat — the animal
  10. game — wild animals
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. spring — of water
  13. race — the arms race
  14. mug — a face
  15. tube — the underground
  16. sharp — clever
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. bass — low music
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. mug — a cup
  22. game — a match
  23. race — a contest
  24. bass — the instrument

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