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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. squash — to crush
  5. row — to paddle
  6. row — a line
  7. race — the arms race
  8. squash — the sport
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. drill — a practice
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. stock — shares
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. stock — goods
  17. drill — the tool
  18. race — a contest
  19. race — humankind
  20. land — ground
  21. drill — army training
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. land — a country
  24. patient — a sick person

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