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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. race — a contest
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. tear — from crying
  8. clip — to cut
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. wind — moving air
  11. clip — a video
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. wind — moving air
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. game — a match
  17. tear — from crying
  18. race — humankind
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. race — the arms race
  21. clip — for paper
  22. tear — to rip
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. dip — to sink

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