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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: race · drill · club · clip · bulb · chair

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. club — for dancing
  3. clip — a video
  4. bulb — for light
  5. race — humankind
  6. drill — the tool
  7. bulb — for light
  8. clip — to cut
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chair — a leader
  11. race — a contest
  12. drill — a practice
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. club — for golf
  16. drill — army training
  17. club — a group
  18. race — the arms race

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