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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. march — the month
  3. race — a contest
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. race — humankind
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. perch — the fish
  11. race — the arms race
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. march — music
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. march — the month
  18. cold — an illness
  19. game — wild animals
  20. cold — not warm
  21. game — a match
  22. content — the amount
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. content — happy

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