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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — the arms race
  4. field — farmland
  5. race — humankind
  6. content — the amount
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — for paper
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. drill — a practice
  12. content — happy
  13. clip — to cut
  14. drill — army training
  15. rash — hasty
  16. hand — help
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. rash — a series
  20. hand — in cards
  21. field — for sport
  22. drill — the tool
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. field — a subject

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