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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: lean · row · spell · race · scale · cold · ruler · mine

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  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. mine — for digging
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. row — a line
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — the arms race
  7. lean — thin
  8. lean — to bend
  9. cold — not warm
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. race — a contest
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. scale — in music
  17. spell — magic
  18. scale — size or range
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. spell — a short time
  21. spell — letters
  22. cold — an illness
  23. ruler — for measuring
  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