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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: coach · row · mine · file · race · ball · sharp · rush

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. sharp — clever
  4. file — a line of people
  5. race — a contest
  6. ball — a great time
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. rush — hurry
  9. ball — a dance
  10. row — to paddle
  11. mine — for digging
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. file — a tool
  14. race — the arms race
  15. race — humankind
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. file — a document
  19. row — a line
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. row — a quarrel

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