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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. mark — a trace
  3. capital — money
  4. race — a contest
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. race — humankind
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. mark — a grade
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. fork — in a road
  16. bat — the animal
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. capital — a city
  21. race — the arms race
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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