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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: tear · temple · roll · press · clip · wound · race · object

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. tear — from crying
  3. race — humankind
  4. clip — a video
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wound — an injury
  7. object — an aim
  8. press — to push
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. wound — an injury
  12. clip — for paper
  13. race — a contest
  14. tear — to rip
  15. clip — to cut
  16. object — to protest
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. press — a publisher
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. object — a thing
  21. press — newspapers
  22. roll — a cake
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. roll — a list

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