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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. race — humankind
  8. file — a line of people
  9. pass — a permit
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. clip — to cut
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. degree — from a university
  14. file — a tool
  15. bat — the animal
  16. clip — a video
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. degree — an amount
  20. file — a document
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. race — the arms race
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bat — in an idiom

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