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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. race — the arms race
  3. ball — a dance
  4. cold — an illness
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. file — a line of people
  7. craft — boats
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. cold — not warm
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. clip — to cut
  14. race — a contest
  15. file — a tool
  16. ball — a great time
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. craft — a skill
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. race — humankind
  21. file — a document
  22. bass — low music
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bass — the fish

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