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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. march — the month
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. clip — for paper
  6. degree — an amount
  7. staff — a stick
  8. race — a contest
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. clip — to cut
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. degree — from a university
  13. march — the month
  14. clip — a video
  15. season — in sport
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. staff — employees
  18. staff — employees
  19. season — of the year
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. march — music
  22. race — humankind
  23. degree — temperature
  24. branch — a division

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