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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. race — humankind
  3. clip — to cut
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. clip — a video
  7. race — a contest
  8. drill — a practice
  9. rock — music
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. tube — a container
  13. swing — in golf
  14. drill — army training
  15. race — the arms race
  16. mine — for digging
  17. swing — music
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. tube — the underground
  20. drill — the tool
  21. swing — to play on
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. rock — a stone

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