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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. pass — a permit
  3. scale — in music
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. scale — size or range
  6. race — a contest
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. field — for sport
  11. clip — a video
  12. field — a subject
  13. land — a country
  14. race — the arms race
  15. cold — not warm
  16. field — farmland
  17. board — a committee
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. land — ground
  20. clip — for paper
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. clip — to cut
  23. board — to get on
  24. land — to come down

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