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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  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. clip — to cut
  2. rest — what's left
  3. season — in sport
  4. kid — to tease
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. clip — for paper
  7. mark — a grade
  8. race — the arms race
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. kid — child
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — a break
  14. race — a contest
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. season — of the year
  18. fall — to drop
  19. clip — a video
  20. fall — the season
  21. fall — to drop
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. mark — a trace
  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