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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: race · bat · bound · date · land · row · scale · board

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. race — a contest
  3. bound — obliged
  4. board — to get on
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — the animal
  11. row — a line
  12. bound — certain
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. bound — tied together
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — a country
  18. scale — size or range
  19. board — a committee
  20. scale — in music
  21. land — ground
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. race — the arms race
  24. date — the fruit

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