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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 · race · bowl · stem · drill · wound · court

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. court — of law
  5. race — a contest
  6. drill — the tool
  7. clip — for paper
  8. court — of a king
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. race — humankind
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. clip — to cut
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. clip — a video
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. court — for sport
  21. drill — a practice
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. stem — to come from
  24. race — the arms race

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