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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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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: sharp · cue · rule · row · hide · pound · race · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. cue — a signal
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — a contest
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. sharp — clever
  10. pound — a weight
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. rule — government
  13. cue — for pool
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. cue — a hint
  16. kid — child
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. rule — a law
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. row — a line
  22. row — to paddle
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. race — the arms race

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