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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: march · toast · pitcher · race · arm · content · wind · clip

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. wind — moving air
  4. march — the month
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. toast — bread
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. clip — for paper
  9. race — humankind
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. clip — a video
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. content — happy
  16. march — the month
  17. race — the arms race
  18. march — music
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. wind — moving air
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. arm — part of the body

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