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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 · hand · race · kick · club · last · bowl · season

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. game — wild animals
  3. hand — help
  4. race — a contest
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. club — a group
  8. hand — in cards
  9. game — a match
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. season — in sport
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. season — of the year
  15. last — final
  16. last — to go on
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. last — finally
  20. club — for dancing
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. race — the arms race
  23. club — for golf
  24. kick — in football

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