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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. clip — to cut
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. race — humankind
  5. degree — an amount
  6. roll — a cake
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. roll — a list
  10. race — a contest
  11. degree — temperature
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. degree — from a university
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. lean — to bend
  21. race — the arms race
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. lean — thin
  24. roll — on a roll

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