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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 112 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: deal · bat · rule · last · race · snap

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. last — to go on
  4. rule — government
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. bat — the animal
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. race — humankind
  10. snap — to click
  11. last — final
  12. rule — a law
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. deal — to handle
  15. race — the arms race
  16. last — finally
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. bat — for baseball

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