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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. race — a contest
  3. cap — a hat
  4. race — humankind
  5. court — of a king
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. file — a tool
  8. court — for sport
  9. cap — a lid
  10. row — to paddle
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. race — the arms race
  18. file — a line of people
  19. plane — a tool
  20. file — a document
  21. court — of law
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. row — a line
  24. cap — of ice

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