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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. race — the arms race
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. vault — a safe
  5. cold — not warm
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cold — an illness
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. race — a contest
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. clip — to cut
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. race — humankind
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. chest — a box
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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