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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: field · wave · clip · last · tear · arm · band · race

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. field — for sport
  7. last — to go on
  8. tear — to rip
  9. last — finally
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. band — a ring
  13. clip — to cut
  14. race — the arms race
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. field — a subject
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. clip — for paper
  19. last — final
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. clip — a video
  22. field — farmland
  23. band — a music group
  24. tear — from crying

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