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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. root — the cause
  3. stem — to come from
  4. track — a path
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. clip — a video
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. chest — a box
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. race — the arms race
  13. chest — of your body
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. clip — to cut
  17. root — of a plant
  18. track — a song
  19. sharp — clever
  20. race — humankind
  21. clip — for paper
  22. chest — of your body
  23. track — to keep track
  24. root — of a word

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