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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. spring — of water
  3. spring — the season
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. scale — in music
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. row — a line
  8. band — a ring
  9. sharp — clever
  10. spring — a coil
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. race — a contest
  14. race — humankind
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. band — a music group
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. race — the arms race
  21. row — to paddle
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. band — a rubber band

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