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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: sharp · bore · land · bat · race · firm · squash · cell

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. squash — the sport
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. squash — to crush
  5. firm — steady
  6. land — to come down
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. race — the arms race
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. cell — a phone
  12. race — humankind
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. sharp — clever
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. firm — a company
  18. bat — the animal
  19. firm — decided
  20. bore — to tire
  21. land — ground
  22. land — a country
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. bore — to drill

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