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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 116 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: file · suit · bat · race · land · snap · row · wake

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. land — ground
  3. bat — the animal
  4. race — the arms race
  5. suit — in cards
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. suit — clothes
  8. file — a tool
  9. row — to paddle
  10. file — a document
  11. race — a contest
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. land — to come down
  16. wake — a trail
  17. row — a line
  18. suit — to fit
  19. file — a line of people
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. snap — to click
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. land — a country

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