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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 120 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  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. race — a contest
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. row — a line
  4. race — humankind
  5. board — to get on
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. game — wild animals
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. perch — the fish
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. cold — an illness
  17. row — to paddle
  18. board — a committee
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. cold — not warm
  22. game — a match
  23. arm — part of the body
  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