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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. race — the arms race
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — the season
  5. clip — to cut
  6. file — a tool
  7. clip — a video
  8. content — happy
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. file — a line of people
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. wax — to grow
  13. file — a document
  14. content — the amount
  15. clip — for paper
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — completely
  18. present — the time now
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. race — a contest
  21. spring — of water
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. race — humankind
  24. present — a gift

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