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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. ground — crushed
  3. land — ground
  4. pound — a weight
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. clip — to cut
  8. kick — in football
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. ground — the earth
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. land — to come down
  13. land — a country
  14. race — the arms race
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. race — a contest
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. toast — bread
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. race — humankind
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. ground — a position

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