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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — finally
  4. present — a gift
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — humankind
  7. last — final
  8. lean — thin
  9. row — to paddle
  10. present — the time now
  11. lean — to bend
  12. row — a line
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. race — the arms race
  16. present — there
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. rash — hasty
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. rash — a series

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