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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. face — to point toward
  3. clip — a video
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. race — a contest
  6. face — to confront
  7. tube — the underground
  8. bat — the animal
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. race — the arms race
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. race — humankind
  15. face — part of the head
  16. clip — to cut
  17. tube — a container
  18. bat — in an idiom

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