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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  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. snap — to speak sharply
  2. date — the fruit
  3. race — a contest
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. game — wild animals
  6. snap — to click
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. file — a document
  10. chest — a box
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. chest — of your body
  13. race — the arms race
  14. chest — of your body
  15. vault — a safe
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a line of people
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — a match
  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