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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. chest — of your body
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. bound — obliged
  5. spell — a short time
  6. squash — the sport
  7. race — the arms race
  8. squash — to crush
  9. spell — letters
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. race — a contest
  13. bound — tied together
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. bat — the animal
  16. race — humankind
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. chest — a box
  20. scale — in music
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bound — certain
  24. scale — size or range

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