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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. toast — bread
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. last — final
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. race — humankind
  12. board — to get on
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. prune — to trim
  15. last — finally
  16. last — to go on
  17. rush — hurry
  18. prune — to trim
  19. mine — for digging
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. race — the arms race
  22. board — a committee
  23. race — a contest
  24. mine — belonging to me

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