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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: bat · spell · game · race · straw · pound · lie · rest

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. race — a contest
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. lie — to recline
  9. rest — what's left
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. spell — a short time
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. race — humankind
  14. pound — a weight
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. bat — the animal
  19. spell — letters
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. spell — magic
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. game — a match
  24. race — the arms race

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