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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. race — humankind
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — the arms race
  8. net — in sport
  9. vault — a safe
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. clip — to cut
  12. squash — to crush
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. net — for catching
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. net — after costs
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. wind — moving air

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