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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. degree — an amount
  3. clip — a video
  4. race — humankind
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wax — to grow
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. clip — to cut
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. degree — from a university
  13. season — in sport
  14. race — the arms race
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. lean — to bend
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. lean — thin
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. season — of the year
  24. bark — to shout

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