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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  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. ball — a great time
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. fall — to drop
  5. race — the arms race
  6. lean — to bend
  7. lean — thin
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. spell — magic
  10. bat — the animal
  11. rest — a break
  12. fall — to drop
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. fall — the season
  15. season — in sport
  16. spell — a short time
  17. spell — letters
  18. ball — a dance
  19. rest — what's left
  20. season — of the year
  21. race — a contest
  22. rest — what's left
  23. ball — a round shape
  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