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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 120 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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Word bank
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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: clip · bass · race · tear · cell · wave

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. race — humankind
  3. cell — a phone
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bass — the fish
  11. cell — in biology
  12. clip — to cut
  13. race — the arms race
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bass — low music
  17. race — a contest
  18. wave — a sudden rise

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