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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. cue — for pool
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cue — a signal
  6. clip — for paper
  7. degree — an amount
  8. clip — a video
  9. race — the arms race
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. degree — from a university
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. race — humankind
  15. file — a line of people
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. race — a contest
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. clip — to cut
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a document
  24. cue — a hint

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