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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. fine — all right
  3. race — the arms race
  4. clip — to cut
  5. row — to paddle
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. fine — high quality
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. present — a gift
  10. race — humankind
  11. ball — a great time
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. present — the time now
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. ball — a dance
  19. mine — for digging
  20. row — a line
  21. clip — for paper
  22. race — a contest
  23. clip — a video
  24. present — there

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