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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 120 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: mine · stick · current · race · cue · tear · ground · bat

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. cue — for pool
  3. mine — for digging
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. cue — a hint
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. race — a contest
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cue — a signal
  12. current — of water
  13. ground — crushed
  14. race — the arms race
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. ground — the earth
  17. current — happening now
  18. race — humankind
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. tear — to rip
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. bat — the animal
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. current — electric

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