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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 · cap · land · arm · chest · clip

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. land — to come down
  3. clip — to cut
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. cap — a lid
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. race — a contest
  9. land — ground
  10. cap — of ice
  11. chest — of your body
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. land — a country
  14. race — the arms race
  15. chest — a box
  16. cap — a hat
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. race — humankind

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