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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  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 quarrel
  2. row — to paddle
  3. foot — a measure
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. race — a contest
  6. file — a tool
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. stock — shares
  9. race — the arms race
  10. stock — goods
  11. hand — help
  12. drill — army training
  13. file — a line of people
  14. row — a line
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. drill — a practice
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. hand — in cards
  21. drill — the tool
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. file — a document
  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