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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. row — a line
  3. pit — a hole
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. current — electric
  7. pit — in a race
  8. wake — a trail
  9. current — happening now
  10. row — to paddle
  11. object — to protest
  12. bat — the animal
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. object — an aim
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. race — a contest
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. current — of water
  22. race — the arms race
  23. race — humankind
  24. object — a thing

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