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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. race — the arms race
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. foot — a measure
  7. race — humankind
  8. spring — the season
  9. fork — in a road
  10. clip — a video
  11. spring — of water
  12. dip — to sink
  13. spring — a coil
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — to cut
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. race — a contest
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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