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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 120 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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  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. track — a path
  2. track — a song
  3. present — a gift
  4. race — humankind
  5. ground — a position
  6. march — the month
  7. present — there
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. march — music
  11. track — to keep track
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. race — a contest
  14. march — the month
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. game — a match
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — the earth
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. present — the time now
  23. game — wild animals
  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