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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. game — wild animals
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. race — the arms race
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. mine — for digging
  14. dip — to sink
  15. net — for catching
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. game — a match
  18. race — a contest
  19. bat — the animal
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. board — a committee
  22. board — to get on
  23. net — after costs
  24. race — humankind

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