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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 116 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 tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. race — humankind
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wound — an injury
  5. march — the month
  6. race — a contest
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. rash — hasty
  10. rash — a series
  11. march — music
  12. clip — for paper
  13. charge — in control
  14. squash — the sport
  15. wound — an injury
  16. clip — a video
  17. chair — a leader
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. race — the arms race
  20. march — the month
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. charge — electricity
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. squash — to crush

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