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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — for paper
  4. race — a contest
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. race — humankind
  8. cap — of ice
  9. lean — to bend
  10. drill — army training
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. race — the arms race
  13. kid — to tease
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. drill — a practice
  17. kid — child
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — the fish
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. cap — a hat
  22. lean — thin
  23. drill — the tool
  24. clip — a video

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