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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. kid — child
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. wake — a trail
  6. clip — for paper
  7. capital — money
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. race — humankind
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. perch — the fish
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. capital — a city
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. mine — for digging
  19. clip — to cut
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. race — the arms race
  22. kid — to tease
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. clip — a video

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