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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. race — a contest
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. race — humankind
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. march — music
  8. clip — a video
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. bat — the animal
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cell — in biology
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. clip — to cut
  19. march — the month
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. march — the month
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. stem — to come from

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