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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. wind — moving air
  3. race — a contest
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. row — a line
  6. bat — the animal
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. rule — a law
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. date — the fruit
  12. race — humankind
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. branch — a division
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. rule — government
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. pound — a weight
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. race — the arms race

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