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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: race · bat · chip · saw · spell · fan · prune · game

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. saw — the tool
  3. bat — the animal
  4. game — a match
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — a contest
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. spell — letters
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. prune — to trim
  12. chip — for betting
  13. spell — a short time
  14. saw — the tool
  15. spell — magic
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. game — wild animals
  20. chip — to eat
  21. prune — to trim
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. chip — in a computer

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