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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.

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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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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: kid · snap · stem · clip · race · wind · safe · fork

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. race — a contest
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. kid — to tease
  5. snap — to click
  6. race — the arms race
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. clip — to cut
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. wind — moving air
  16. race — humankind
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. stem — to come from
  19. kid — child
  20. fork — in a road
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — a video

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