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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 120 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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. clip — for paper
  3. race — humankind
  4. court — for sport
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — magic
  7. charge — electricity
  8. spell — a short time
  9. court — of law
  10. court — of a king
  11. charge — a price
  12. clip — a video
  13. file — a line of people
  14. charge — in control
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a tool
  17. race — a contest
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bear — the animal
  23. race — the arms race
  24. pound — a weight

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