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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. bound — obliged
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. saw — the tool
  5. race — a contest
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bound — certain
  8. field — farmland
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. race — humankind
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. saw — the tool
  15. row — a line
  16. race — the arms race
  17. field — a subject
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. kick — in football
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. row — to paddle
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. field — for sport

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