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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. stand — to bear
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. clip — to cut
  5. race — the arms race
  6. track — a path
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. race — a contest
  9. row — a line
  10. chair — a leader
  11. clip — for paper
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. row — to paddle
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. clip — a video
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. game — a match
  21. race — humankind
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. stem — to come from
  24. track — to keep track

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