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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: rule · bound · mate · current · row · club · race · bat

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. current — electric
  3. rule — a law
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. race — a contest
  6. current — happening now
  7. race — the arms race
  8. mate — a partner
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. club — for dancing
  12. bound — obliged
  13. bound — certain
  14. club — for golf
  15. bound — tied together
  16. race — humankind
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a line
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. bat — the animal
  21. current — of water
  22. mate — to breed
  23. rule — government
  24. club — a group

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