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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 looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. race — humankind
  3. clip — to cut
  4. club — for golf
  5. clip — for paper
  6. wound — an injury
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — a contest
  9. bulb — for light
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — a box
  12. cold — an illness
  13. foot — a measure
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. club — for dancing
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. clip — a video
  23. bulb — for light
  24. club — a group

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