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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: face · row · cold · craft · race · sharp · last · object

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. craft — boats
  3. race — a contest
  4. last — to go on
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. face — to point toward
  7. row — to paddle
  8. object — an aim
  9. face — part of the head
  10. race — humankind
  11. object — a thing
  12. object — to protest
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. last — final
  17. craft — a skill
  18. race — the arms race
  19. last — finally
  20. face — to confront
  21. cold — not warm
  22. row — a line
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. sharp — clever

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