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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 120 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. spring — of water
  4. race — humankind
  5. race — a contest
  6. clip — a video
  7. spring — the season
  8. lie — to recline
  9. rash — hasty
  10. object — to protest
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. spring — a coil
  14. clip — for paper
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. clip — to cut
  18. land — ground
  19. land — a country
  20. object — a thing
  21. race — the arms race
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. object — an aim
  24. rash — a series

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