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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. hand — in cards
  6. row — to paddle
  7. race — humankind
  8. root — of a plant
  9. row — a line
  10. root — the cause
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. club — for golf
  13. race — the arms race
  14. hand — help
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. root — of a word
  17. race — a contest
  18. pitch — completely
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. cold — an illness
  21. club — for dancing
  22. snap — to click
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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