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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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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. tube — a container
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. clip — to cut
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. clip — a video
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. race — the arms race
  11. clip — for paper
  12. cold — not warm
  13. tube — the underground
  14. race — a contest
  15. cold — an illness
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. tube — in a tire

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