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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. tear — from crying
  3. clip — to cut
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. race — a contest
  6. key — for a lock
  7. clip — for paper
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. roll — a cake
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. swing — music
  14. roll — a list
  15. pop — music
  16. stem — to come from
  17. swing — to play on
  18. swing — in golf
  19. key — the most important part
  20. key — in music
  21. race — humankind
  22. race — the arms race
  23. clip — a video
  24. pop — to visit

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