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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. band — a music group
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. clip — a video
  5. rash — hasty
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. rock — a stone
  8. tear — to rip
  9. clip — to cut
  10. race — a contest
  11. rash — a series
  12. band — a ring
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. clip — for paper
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. race — humankind
  18. rock — music
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cold — an illness
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. tear — from crying

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