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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 124 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kick · cold · row · bowl · board · race

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. board — a committee
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. race — the arms race
  5. row — a line
  6. race — a contest
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. board — to get on
  9. row — to paddle
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. race — humankind
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. kick — in football

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