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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. club — for dancing
  3. scale — size or range
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. club — a group
  9. object — to protest
  10. ground — crushed
  11. object — an aim
  12. race — a contest
  13. game — wild animals
  14. bat — the animal
  15. race — humankind
  16. club — for golf
  17. game — a match
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. wound — an injury
  20. race — the arms race
  21. object — a thing
  22. ground — the earth
  23. scale — in music
  24. wound — an injury

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