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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. race — a contest
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rest — a break
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — wild animals
  7. press — a publisher
  8. pound — a weight
  9. cell — a phone
  10. clip — to cut
  11. mate — to breed
  12. mate — a friend
  13. clip — a video
  14. rest — what's left
  15. race — the arms race
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. game — a match
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. cell — in biology
  22. press — to push
  23. mate — a partner
  24. press — newspapers

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