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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. snap — to click
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. cold — not warm
  5. object — a thing
  6. race — the arms race
  7. clip — a video
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. chip — to eat
  10. spring — a coil
  11. race — a contest
  12. chip — for betting
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. object — an aim
  16. race — humankind
  17. spring — of water
  18. object — to protest
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. clip — to cut
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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