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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: prune · key · race · fall · drill · game · deal · bat

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — the arms race
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — the animal
  6. key — the most important part
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. fall — to drop
  10. prune — to trim
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. prune — to trim
  13. game — a match
  14. drill — army training
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. drill — the tool
  17. race — humankind
  18. game — wild animals
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. drill — a practice
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. key — in music
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. deal — to handle

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