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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: game · fork · object · race · chest · bass · mine · swing

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. object — a thing
  3. chest — a box
  4. chest — of your body
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. game — a match
  7. object — an aim
  8. object — to protest
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — the arms race
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. game — wild animals
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. swing — in golf
  17. chest — of your body
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. bass — low music
  21. fork — in a road
  22. bass — the fish
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. mine — for digging

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