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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. firm — decided
  3. clip — for paper
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to click
  6. clip — a video
  7. content — happy
  8. season — of the year
  9. clip — to cut
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. drill — army training
  13. firm — steady
  14. season — in sport
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. scale — in music
  17. race — a contest
  18. drill — the tool
  19. content — the amount
  20. race — the arms race
  21. drill — a practice
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. scale — size or range
  24. race — humankind

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