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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 120 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: game · hide · arm · ground · present · race · row · chest

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. present — a gift
  3. game — wild animals
  4. race — humankind
  5. chest — a box
  6. row — to paddle
  7. present — there
  8. chest — of your body
  9. ground — crushed
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. present — the time now
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — the arms race
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. row — a line
  21. chest — of your body
  22. ground — a position
  23. game — a match
  24. ground — the earth

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