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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. game — a match
  3. clip — for paper
  4. shower — rain
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. rest — what's left
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. plane — a tool
  12. race — a contest
  13. rest — what's left
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. race — humankind
  16. tube — a container
  17. tube — the underground
  18. shower — to wash
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. rest — a break
  24. race — the arms race

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