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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. mate — a partner
  4. mate — to breed
  5. row — to paddle
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. spring — of water
  8. squash — the sport
  9. rule — a law
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — for paper
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. row — a line
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. rule — government
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. mate — a friend
  19. squash — to crush
  20. spring — a coil
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. race — a contest
  23. spring — the season
  24. race — humankind

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