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

Word bank: kick · squash · race · clip · rest · row

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. race — humankind
  4. clip — to cut
  5. squash — the sport
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. rest — a break
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. squash — to crush
  10. row — to paddle
  11. kick — in football
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. race — a contest
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. clip — a video
  17. row — a line
  18. clip — for paper

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