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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. mate — a partner
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. mate — to breed
  6. mate — a friend
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. pit — a hole
  9. race — humankind
  10. field — farmland
  11. content — happy
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. pit — in a race
  15. field — for sport
  16. file — a line of people
  17. file — a document
  18. field — a subject
  19. file — a tool
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — to trim
  22. clip — a video
  23. content — the amount
  24. race — a contest

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