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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: kid · march · clip · ground · race · wave

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. ground — crushed
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. march — music
  5. race — the arms race
  6. race — humankind
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. march — the month
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — for paper
  11. race — a contest
  12. kid — to tease
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. march — the month
  15. kid — child
  16. ground — a position
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. ground — the earth

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