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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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Word bank
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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. row — to paddle
  4. face — to point toward
  5. bass — low music
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. row — a line
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. race — humankind
  12. face — to confront
  13. land — to come down
  14. vault — a safe
  15. face — part of the head
  16. snap — to click
  17. fall — the season
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. fall — to drop
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. land — a country
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — the arms race
  24. fall — to drop

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