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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 120 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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. clip — a video
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. race — a contest
  5. clip — to cut
  6. cold — not warm
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. degree — temperature
  10. file — a tool
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. cold — an illness
  14. file — a line of people
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. file — a document
  17. race — the arms race
  18. press — to push
  19. race — humankind
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. press — a publisher
  23. clip — for paper
  24. press — newspapers

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