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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. file — a line of people
  4. date — the fruit
  5. bore — to tire
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — a contest
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. board — to get on
  10. file — a document
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. board — a committee
  13. club — for golf
  14. pound — a weight
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. bore — to drill
  17. club — for dancing
  18. cold — an illness
  19. race — the arms race
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. club — a group
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. file — a tool

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