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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. prune — to trim
  3. kid — to tease
  4. foot — a measure
  5. race — a contest
  6. land — a country
  7. prune — to trim
  8. race — humankind
  9. land — to come down
  10. charge — electricity
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — the season
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. kid — child
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. land — ground
  18. clip — to cut
  19. charge — in control
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. clip — for paper
  22. charge — a price
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. clip — a video

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