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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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Word bank
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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. file — a line of people
  3. race — the arms race
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wax — to grow
  7. board — a committee
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. file — a tool
  11. pitch — completely
  12. file — a document
  13. cold — an illness
  14. race — humankind
  15. race — a contest
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — for paper
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. board — to get on
  24. wax — for sculpting

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