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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. net — for catching
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. net — in sport
  5. ground — a position
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. march — the month
  8. clip — a video
  9. net — after costs
  10. march — the month
  11. mine — for digging
  12. race — humankind
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — a contest
  17. ground — crushed
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. ground — the earth
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. march — music
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. clip — for paper

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