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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. clip — a video
  6. bat — the animal
  7. race — the arms race
  8. bound — certain
  9. bound — obliged
  10. race — humankind
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. kick — in football
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. squash — to crush
  17. race — a contest
  18. squash — the sport
  19. rush — hurry
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. bound — tied together
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. temple — side of the head

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