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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 116 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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. rest — what's left
  3. rest — what's left
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — in football
  6. cell — in biology
  7. row — a line
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. race — a contest
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. squash — the sport
  17. squash — to crush
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. race — humankind
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. rest — a break
  23. cell — a phone
  24. row — to paddle

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