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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. last — final
  4. race — a contest
  5. cap — a hat
  6. clip — to cut
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. race — the arms race
  10. cap — a lid
  11. last — to go on
  12. ball — a dance
  13. wound — an injury
  14. suit — clothes
  15. clip — for paper
  16. branch — a division
  17. race — humankind
  18. last — finally
  19. suit — to fit
  20. ball — a great time
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wound — an injury
  23. clip — a video
  24. cap — of ice

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