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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 116 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 was locked up in a ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. clip — a video
  4. race — a contest
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. spell — letters
  7. cell — a phone
  8. rock — a stone
  9. cell — in biology
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. rock — music
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. spell — magic
  15. clip — to cut
  16. spell — a short time
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. race — the arms race
  19. clip — for paper
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — help
  22. race — humankind
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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