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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  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 — a line
  2. race — the arms race
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. race — a contest
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. swing — music
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. race — humankind
  11. game — a match
  12. row — to paddle
  13. swing — in golf
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. band — a music group
  16. band — a ring
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. swing — to play on
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  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