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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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. race — humankind
  3. chest — a box
  4. pitch — completely
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. clip — for paper
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. ball — a dance
  11. craft — boats
  12. clip — a video
  13. chest — of your body
  14. race — the arms race
  15. spring — the season
  16. clip — to cut
  17. drill — the tool
  18. race — a contest
  19. drill — army training
  20. ball — a great time
  21. spring — a coil
  22. craft — a skill
  23. drill — a practice
  24. spring — of water

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