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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. clip — to cut
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. pop — soda
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — a contest
  9. chest — a box
  10. clip — a video
  11. press — a publisher
  12. pop — music
  13. press — newspapers
  14. bat — the animal
  15. clip — for paper
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pop — to visit
  18. chest — of your body
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. kick — in football
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bear — the animal
  24. press — to push

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