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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: arm · clip · object · sharp · race · cold · deal · pop

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. pop — music
  4. race — humankind
  5. cold — an illness
  6. object — to protest
  7. pop — to visit
  8. cold — not warm
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. clip — for paper
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. race — the arms race
  15. deal — to handle
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. sharp — clever
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. clip — to cut
  20. object — an aim
  21. object — a thing
  22. pop — soda
  23. clip — a video
  24. race — a contest

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