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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — a video
  7. cold — not warm
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. chip — to eat
  10. race — humankind
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. clip — for paper
  16. stand — to bear
  17. pound — a weight
  18. cold — an illness
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. chip — for betting
  21. race — a contest
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. race — the arms race
  24. arm — part of the body

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