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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: object · season · cue · perch · drill · race · game · chest

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. drill — army training
  3. season — of the year
  4. drill — a practice
  5. race — humankind
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. object — a thing
  8. cue — for pool
  9. chest — of your body
  10. game — a match
  11. season — in sport
  12. cue — a signal
  13. cue — a hint
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. game — wild animals
  16. object — an aim
  17. drill — the tool
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — a box
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. race — the arms race
  23. perch — the fish
  24. race — a contest

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