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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 116 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bulb — for light
  3. clip — to cut
  4. race — a contest
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. clip — a video
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. ground — a position
  9. race — the arms race
  10. game — wild animals
  11. rock — music
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. rock — a stone
  14. tear — to rip
  15. ground — crushed
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bulb — for light
  18. clip — for paper
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. race — humankind
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. tear — from crying
  23. rush — hurry
  24. ground — the earth

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