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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: board · race · land · chair · cold · suit · row · sharp

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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 — the arms race
  2. suit — in cards
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. sharp — clever
  5. race — humankind
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. land — to come down
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. row — a line
  12. suit — clothes
  13. race — a contest
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. suit — to fit
  16. chair — a leader
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. land — ground
  20. cold — an illness
  21. board — to get on
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  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