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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: mug · fork · club · race · cold · row

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. club — for dancing
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. race — a contest
  6. mug — to rob
  7. fork — in a road
  8. cold — an illness
  9. club — a group
  10. mug — a cup
  11. row — to paddle
  12. club — for golf
  13. row — a line
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. race — the arms race
  17. race — humankind
  18. cold — not warm

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