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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. race — a contest
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. row — a line
  5. last — finally
  6. clip — a video
  7. race — the arms race
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. ground — the earth
  10. race — humankind
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. last — final
  13. ground — a position
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. ground — crushed
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — to paddle
  20. last — to go on
  21. clip — to cut
  22. stem — to come from
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. stem — of a plant

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