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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. sharp — clever
  3. race — a contest
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. clip — a video
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. race — humankind
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. present — a gift
  14. bound — tied together
  15. present — there
  16. bound — certain
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. bound — obliged
  22. pound — a weight
  23. present — the time now
  24. race — the arms race

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