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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. fall — to drop
  4. race — humankind
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. squash — the sport
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — the animal
  9. land — to come down
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. deal — to handle
  13. prune — to trim
  14. fall — to drop
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. ball — a dance
  18. land — ground
  19. prune — to trim
  20. fall — the season
  21. race — the arms race
  22. squash — to crush
  23. ball — a great time
  24. race — a contest

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