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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. charge — a price
  5. race — humankind
  6. charge — electricity
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. land — to come down
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. charge — in control
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. race — a contest
  18. shower — rain
  19. land — a country
  20. land — ground
  21. clip — to cut
  22. race — the arms race
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — to wash

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