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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  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. fork — to eat with
  2. race — humankind
  3. lie — to recline
  4. clip — to cut
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. fork — in a road
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. band — a ring
  10. tube — the underground
  11. race — a contest
  12. capital — money
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. tube — a container
  15. capital — a city
  16. pass — a permit
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. clip — a video
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. band — a music group
  22. race — the arms race
  23. pass — to spend time
  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