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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bound — obliged
  4. row — a line
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. key — for a lock
  7. charge — electricity
  8. key — in music
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. charge — a price
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. charge — in control
  15. race — humankind
  16. bound — certain
  17. bound — tied together
  18. sharp — clever
  19. race — a contest
  20. cold — not warm
  21. race — the arms race
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. key — the most important part

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