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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 120 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. scale — in music
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — for paper
  6. kid — child
  7. dip — to sink
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. hand — in cards
  11. kid — to tease
  12. snap — to click
  13. scale — size or range
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. hand — help
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. race — the arms race
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. clip — a video
  24. race — humankind

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