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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. race — humankind
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. race — the arms race
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. tube — a container
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. content — the amount
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. bound — obliged
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. bound — tied together
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. clip — for paper
  20. content — happy
  21. bound — certain
  22. mine — for digging
  23. race — a contest
  24. wind — moving air

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