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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. pop — music
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. clip — a video
  6. race — a contest
  7. rash — a series
  8. wind — moving air
  9. board — a committee
  10. cell — in biology
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rash — hasty
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. cell — a phone
  15. pop — to visit
  16. clip — for paper
  17. season — in sport
  18. board — to get on
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. race — humankind
  21. season — of the year
  22. clip — to cut
  23. race — the arms race
  24. cell — in a prison

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