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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. race — the arms race
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. row — a line
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. face — part of the head
  8. last — finally
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — for paper
  11. race — a contest
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. row — to paddle
  14. race — humankind
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. face — to confront
  17. kid — to tease
  18. last — final
  19. branch — a division
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — child
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. clip — to cut
  24. last — to go on

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