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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 124 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bound — obliged
  3. race — humankind
  4. race — the arms race
  5. field — for sport
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. drill — a practice
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. clip — a video
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. drill — the tool
  13. field — farmland
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. bound — tied together
  16. last — final
  17. drill — army training
  18. clip — to cut
  19. field — a subject
  20. last — finally
  21. bound — certain
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. race — a contest
  24. last — to go on

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