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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. land — to come down
  4. club — for dancing
  5. date — the fruit
  6. race — humankind
  7. club — for golf
  8. land — ground
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. file — a document
  11. staff — employees
  12. race — the arms race
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. wax — to grow
  15. row — to paddle
  16. row — a line
  17. land — a country
  18. club — a group
  19. staff — employees
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a tool
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. staff — a stick

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