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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. firm — steady
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. race — a contest
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. rash — a series
  8. wind — moving air
  9. race — humankind
  10. root — of a plant
  11. clip — a video
  12. rush — hurry
  13. firm — decided
  14. wind — moving air
  15. race — the arms race
  16. clip — for paper
  17. root — of a word
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. rash — hasty
  21. game — a match
  22. firm — a company
  23. game — wild animals
  24. root — the cause

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