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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 116 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — the arms race
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. spring — of water
  7. face — to confront
  8. spring — a coil
  9. wound — an injury
  10. row — to paddle
  11. club — for golf
  12. spring — the season
  13. cell — a phone
  14. face — part of the head
  15. face — to point toward
  16. club — a group
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. mine — for digging
  19. club — for dancing
  20. wound — an injury
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. cell — in biology
  24. race — humankind

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