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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  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. rush — a thrill
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. chest — of your body
  4. race — a contest
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. clip — a video
  7. chest — a box
  8. capital — money
  9. charge — electricity
  10. perch — the fish
  11. race — the arms race
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. clip — to cut
  14. capital — a city
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. charge — a price
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. rush — hurry
  19. charge — in control
  20. chest — of your body
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. clip — for paper
  23. perch — for a bird
  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