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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. race — humankind
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. press — a publisher
  6. firm — a company
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. press — to push
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. clip — for paper
  13. firm — decided
  14. swing — to play on
  15. press — newspapers
  16. swing — music
  17. swing — in golf
  18. cold — an illness
  19. firm — steady
  20. saw — the tool
  21. race — the arms race
  22. clip — a video
  23. chest — a box
  24. cold — not warm

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