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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. roll — a list
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. race — the arms race
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. fork — in a road
  14. roll — a cake
  15. pound — a weight
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. race — humankind
  24. bat — the animal

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