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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. club — for dancing
  3. last — to go on
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. season — of the year
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. bound — tied together
  8. clip — to cut
  9. last — finally
  10. club — a group
  11. bound — certain
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. last — final
  14. bound — obliged
  15. club — for golf
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. wax — to grow
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. race — humankind
  22. season — in sport
  23. race — the arms race
  24. wax — for sculpting

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