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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. mug — a face
  4. game — a match
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. game — wild animals
  7. season — of the year
  8. race — a contest
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. race — humankind
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. mug — to rob
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. shower — rain
  18. season — in sport
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. wake — a trail
  23. shower — to wash
  24. race — the arms race

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