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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. pit — a hole
  3. ground — the earth
  4. pit — in a race
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. race — a contest
  10. hand — in cards
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. race — the arms race
  14. charge — a price
  15. charge — electricity
  16. hand — help
  17. race — humankind
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. ground — crushed
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. ground — a position
  23. clip — a video
  24. charge — in control

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