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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. object — to protest
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. object — an aim
  5. race — a contest
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. ball — a dance
  8. race — humankind
  9. rash — a series
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. file — a document
  12. clip — for paper
  13. file — a line of people
  14. clip — to cut
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. hand — in cards
  17. clip — a video
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. hand — help
  21. race — the arms race
  22. file — a tool
  23. rash — hasty
  24. ball — a great time

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