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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. clip — a video
  3. shower — rain
  4. race — humankind
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. net — in sport
  7. chest — of your body
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. clip — to cut
  10. net — after costs
  11. face — part of the head
  12. face — to point toward
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — a contest
  15. shower — to wash
  16. face — to confront
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — child
  19. fine — all right
  20. chest — of your body
  21. net — for catching
  22. kid — to tease
  23. chest — a box
  24. clip — for paper

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