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

Word bank: deal · club · row · race · rule · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. club — for golf
  3. race — the arms race
  4. row — a line
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. rule — government
  7. content — the amount
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. race — humankind
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. deal — to handle
  14. row — to paddle
  15. club — a group
  16. rule — a law
  17. race — a contest
  18. club — for dancing

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