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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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Word bank
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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  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. kid — to tease
  2. rest — what's left
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. row — a line
  6. rest — what's left
  7. prune — to trim
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. mark — a grade
  10. row — to paddle
  11. race — humankind
  12. prune — to trim
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. dip — to sink
  16. rest — a break
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. kid — child
  19. mark — a trace
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — the arms race
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. mark — to pay attention
  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