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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — the arms race
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. root — of a plant
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mine — for digging
  13. root — of a word
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pound — a weight
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. root — the cause
  19. content — the amount
  20. content — happy
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. clip — for paper

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