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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: ruler · last · land · bass · bat · can · race · fork

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. race — the arms race
  5. bass — low music
  6. can — a tin
  7. last — to go on
  8. land — a country
  9. bass — the fish
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. can — a tin
  12. can — to be able to
  13. land — to come down
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. last — finally
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. last — final
  21. land — ground
  22. fork — in a road
  23. race — humankind
  24. fork — to eat with

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