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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. ground — a position
  3. rest — what's left
  4. ground — crushed
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. march — music
  7. pass — a permit
  8. rest — a break
  9. board — to get on
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. race — a contest
  13. march — the month
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. race — humankind
  18. march — the month
  19. race — the arms race
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a line
  22. ground — the earth
  23. board — a committee
  24. rest — what's left

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