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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. wake — a trail
  3. last — to go on
  4. race — a contest
  5. field — a subject
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. row — a line
  8. last — final
  9. last — finally
  10. present — there
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. field — for sport
  15. perch — the fish
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. wound — an injury
  19. present — a gift
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — the arms race
  22. present — the time now
  23. field — farmland
  24. wound — an injury

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