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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. track — to keep track
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. land — a country
  5. land — to come down
  6. clip — to cut
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. race — a contest
  12. clip — for paper
  13. race — the arms race
  14. clip — a video
  15. land — ground
  16. rush — hurry
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. race — humankind
  20. date — the fruit
  21. track — a path
  22. track — a song
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cabinet — ministers

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