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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  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. club — for dancing
  3. race — humankind
  4. object — a thing
  5. face — to point toward
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. row — a line
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. face — to confront
  10. file — a tool
  11. row — to paddle
  12. club — for golf
  13. object — an aim
  14. sharp — clever
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. race — the arms race
  18. club — a group
  19. object — to protest
  20. face — part of the head
  21. file — a line of people
  22. pass — a permit
  23. file — a document
  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