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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. mark — a grade
  5. sharp — clever
  6. spring — the season
  7. wake — a trail
  8. game — a match
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. race — a contest
  12. cell — a phone
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. cell — in biology
  16. mark — a trace
  17. spring — of water
  18. row — a line
  19. spring — a coil
  20. race — humankind
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. race — the arms race
  24. game — wild animals

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