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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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Word bank
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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: race · spring · hide · bat · content · lie · ball · rest

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. lie — to recline
  3. content — happy
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. rest — what's left
  6. race — a contest
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. spring — the season
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. rest — a break
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. spring — of water
  13. race — the arms race
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. content — the amount
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. race — humankind
  19. spring — a coil
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. rest — what's left
  22. bat — the animal
  23. ball — a great time
  24. content — videos and posts

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