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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. prune — to trim
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. race — a contest
  5. spell — magic
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. spell — letters
  8. race — humankind
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. bat — the animal
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. spell — a short time
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. rule — government
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. rule — a law
  21. wake — a trail
  22. prune — to trim
  23. race — the arms race
  24. sharp — clever

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