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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: squash · pit · rock · race · chest · game · key · wound

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. chest — of your body
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. rock — music
  5. race — humankind
  6. pit — in a race
  7. game — a match
  8. race — a contest
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. race — the arms race
  11. key — in music
  12. game — wild animals
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. chest — a box
  15. rock — a stone
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. key — for a lock
  18. wound — an injury
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wound — an injury
  21. key — the most important part
  22. squash — the sport
  23. squash — to crush
  24. pit — a hole

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