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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. ground — crushed
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. spell — magic
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. ground — a position
  7. race — humankind
  8. cap — of ice
  9. spell — letters
  10. cap — a hat
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. file — a tool
  13. date — the fruit
  14. race — the arms race
  15. file — a line of people
  16. row — a line
  17. file — a document
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. lie — to recline
  21. spell — a short time
  22. cap — a lid
  23. race — a contest
  24. ground — the earth

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