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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: kick · race · board · spring · roll · row · fall · straw

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. race — humankind
  4. race — a contest
  5. spring — a coil
  6. row — a line
  7. kick — in football
  8. board — to get on
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. race — the arms race
  11. fall — the season
  12. spring — of water
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. roll — a list
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. roll — a cake
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. fall — to drop
  22. spring — the season
  23. board — a committee
  24. row — to paddle

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