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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 116 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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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. club — for golf
  4. press — to push
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. club — for dancing
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. scale — in music
  9. clip — for paper
  10. pit — a hole
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. press — a publisher
  13. press — newspapers
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. stem — to come from
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. clip — to cut
  18. scale — size or range
  19. bat — the animal
  20. club — a group
  21. race — the arms race
  22. pit — in a race
  23. clip — a video
  24. bat — for baseball

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