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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's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. foot — a measure
  3. present — a gift
  4. present — the time now
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — humankind
  8. clip — for paper
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. rash — hasty
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. face — part of the head
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. present — there
  15. wound — an injury
  16. race — the arms race
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. rash — a series
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. face — to confront
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. face — to point toward

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