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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. ground — crushed
  3. bass — low music
  4. clip — to cut
  5. race — a contest
  6. file — a line of people
  7. capital — a city
  8. root — of a word
  9. ground — the earth
  10. bass — the fish
  11. root — the cause
  12. root — of a plant
  13. mate — a partner
  14. race — the arms race
  15. file — a document
  16. mate — a friend
  17. capital — money
  18. mate — to breed
  19. race — humankind
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. file — a tool
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bass — the instrument

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