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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. clip — for paper
  4. row — to paddle
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. clip — to cut
  7. chair — a leader
  8. net — for catching
  9. row — a line
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. rest — a break
  12. net — in sport
  13. rest — what's left
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. rest — what's left
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. lean — to bend
  18. race — a contest
  19. race — humankind
  20. lean — thin
  21. stock — goods
  22. net — after costs
  23. clip — a video
  24. stock — shares

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