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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. clip — a video
  3. spell — a short time
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. spell — magic
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. board — to get on
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — humankind
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. mark — a trace
  14. mark — a grade
  15. spell — letters
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. board — a committee
  19. race — the arms race
  20. shower — rain
  21. clip — to cut
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. clip — for paper
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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