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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. row — to paddle
  3. bound — certain
  4. bound — tied together
  5. key — for a lock
  6. key — the most important part
  7. race — the arms race
  8. bound — obliged
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — for catching
  13. key — in music
  14. row — a line
  15. wind — moving air
  16. game — a match
  17. race — humankind
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. net — after costs
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. race — a contest
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. wind — moving air

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