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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. wound — an injury
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. clip — a video
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — a position
  9. clip — to cut
  10. ground — crushed
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. race — a contest
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. firm — decided
  15. toast — bread
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. race — humankind
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wind — moving air
  20. race — the arms race
  21. tube — a container
  22. tube — the underground
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. firm — a company

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