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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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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Word bank
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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: race · leaves · chest · object · wind · clip · key · spell

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chest — of your body
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — magic
  6. clip — to cut
  7. race — a contest
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wind — moving air
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. key — for a lock
  12. clip — a video
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. chest — of your body
  17. spell — a short time
  18. key — the most important part
  19. key — in music
  20. object — an aim
  21. chest — a box
  22. race — the arms race
  23. object — to protest
  24. object — a thing

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