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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. row — to paddle
  6. current — electric
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. current — happening now
  9. race — the arms race
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. swing — in golf
  12. current — of water
  13. sharp — clever
  14. race — humankind
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. row — a line
  17. swing — music
  18. swing — to play on
  19. date — the fruit
  20. court — of a king
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of law
  24. race — a contest

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