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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. clip — a video
  3. rock — music
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. ground — the earth
  6. charge — electricity
  7. tube — a container
  8. race — the arms race
  9. charge — a price
  10. race — humankind
  11. ground — a position
  12. field — for sport
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — for paper
  15. rock — a stone
  16. ground — crushed
  17. tube — the underground
  18. toast — bread
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. field — farmland
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. charge — in control
  24. field — a subject

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