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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. race — humankind
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wax — to grow
  8. game — a match
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. hand — in cards
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. game — wild animals
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — help
  20. race — the arms race
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. race — a contest
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bat — the animal

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