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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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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — a video
  4. race — a contest
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — for digging
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bat — the animal
  11. wind — moving air
  12. race — humankind
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. wind — moving air
  18. race — the arms race

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