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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 · bark · deal · object · kid · race · march · cap

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cap — of ice
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. march — the month
  6. object — an aim
  7. deal — to handle
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cap — a lid
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cap — a hat
  13. object — to protest
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — the arms race
  19. bat — the animal
  20. object — a thing
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. kid — child

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