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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. clip — a video
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. race — the arms race
  5. game — wild animals
  6. tear — from crying
  7. clip — for paper
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cell — in biology
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. foot — a measure
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. game — a match
  18. race — humankind
  19. tear — to rip
  20. bat — the animal
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. clip — to cut

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