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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. last — finally
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. drill — a practice
  7. mine — for digging
  8. clip — a video
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. race — a contest
  11. lie — to recline
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. wound — an injury
  14. clip — for paper
  15. wound — an injury
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. clip — to cut
  19. drill — the tool
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. drill — army training
  22. race — the arms race
  23. last — final
  24. last — to go on

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