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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. drill — the tool
  3. roll — a list
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. clip — to cut
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. race — humankind
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — a video
  11. band — a ring
  12. race — a contest
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. roll — a cake
  20. drill — a practice
  21. race — the arms race
  22. band — a music group
  23. drill — army training
  24. stand — to bear

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