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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 116 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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. can — a tin
  3. board — a committee
  4. cold — not warm
  5. lean — thin
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. race — a contest
  8. race — humankind
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — a line
  11. key — in music
  12. row — to paddle
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. key — the most important part
  17. board — to get on
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. bat — the animal
  20. race — the arms race
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. can — to be able to
  23. can — a tin
  24. key — for a lock

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