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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: ground · race · wind · racket · field · chip · clip · straw

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. race — humankind
  6. chip — for betting
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. clip — to cut
  9. ground — the earth
  10. wind — moving air
  11. field — for sport
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — a video
  14. race — a contest
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. chip — to eat
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. wind — moving air
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — a subject
  21. ground — a position
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. race — the arms race
  24. ground — crushed

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