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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. foot — a measure
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. date — the fruit
  5. cold — not warm
  6. march — the month
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. race — a contest
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. race — humankind
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. shower — rain
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. race — the arms race
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. row — to paddle
  20. march — the month
  21. cold — an illness
  22. march — music
  23. shower — to wash
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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