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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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Word bank
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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: snap · tube · race · bulb · row · board · saw · cold

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. race — a contest
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. saw — the tool
  7. board — a committee
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. row — to paddle
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. tube — the underground
  14. snap — to click
  15. row — a line
  16. cold — not warm
  17. tube — a container
  18. board — to get on
  19. race — the arms race
  20. cold — an illness
  21. race — humankind
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bulb — for light

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