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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 116 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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. land — ground
  3. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. race — the arms race
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. race — a contest
  8. clip — a video
  9. rush — hurry
  10. firm — steady
  11. pop — soda
  12. land — to come down
  13. clip — for paper
  14. race — humankind
  15. rash — a series
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pop — to visit
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. firm — a company
  20. march — the month
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. land — a country
  24. pop — music

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