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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. race — a contest
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pound — a weight
  8. perch — the fish
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. wind — moving air
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. clip — a video
  15. mine — for digging
  16. race — humankind
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. clip — for paper
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. clip — to cut
  24. mine — an explosive

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