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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. race — humankind
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pitch — completely
  10. row — to paddle
  11. net — in sport
  12. lean — to bend
  13. tear — from crying
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. roll — a cake
  16. net — for catching
  17. race — a contest
  18. roll — a list
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. row — a line
  21. sharp — clever
  22. race — the arms race
  23. net — after costs
  24. tear — to rip

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