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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. race — a contest
  3. kid — to tease
  4. firm — decided
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. tube — the underground
  7. clip — a video
  8. last — to go on
  9. clip — for paper
  10. firm — a company
  11. clip — to cut
  12. race — humankind
  13. firm — steady
  14. race — the arms race
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. cold — not warm
  18. kid — child
  19. last — final
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. cold — an illness
  23. tube — a container
  24. trunk — of a car

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