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

Word bank: game · wind · bat · race · kid · dip · fork · stand

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. stand — to bear
  4. wind — moving air
  5. fork — in a road
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. race — the arms race
  8. game — a match
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. kid — child
  11. race — humankind
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wind — moving air
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. dip — to sink
  17. game — wild animals
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. race — a contest
  21. bat — the animal
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. bat — in an idiom

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