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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. row — a line
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. race — a contest
  9. face — to confront
  10. face — part of the head
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. race — humankind
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. cold — an illness
  18. race — the arms race
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rule — government
  21. rule — a law
  22. face — to point toward
  23. row — to paddle
  24. racket — for tennis

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