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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. cold — not warm
  3. clip — a video
  4. game — a match
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. scale — size or range
  9. clip — to cut
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. race — the arms race
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cold — an illness
  14. clip — for paper
  15. race — a contest
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. game — wild animals
  18. foot — a measure
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. scale — in music
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. race — humankind

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