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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 ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. race — a contest
  3. land — a country
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. race — the arms race
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. press — to push
  8. cold — an illness
  9. clip — a video
  10. spring — the season
  11. press — a publisher
  12. race — humankind
  13. land — to come down
  14. land — ground
  15. spring — a coil
  16. clip — for paper
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. spring — of water
  19. clip — to cut
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. press — newspapers
  24. cold — not warm

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