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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: cell · toast · kid · mark · roll · race · rash · clip

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. race — a contest
  3. clip — a video
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. mark — a trace
  6. rash — a series
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. mark — a grade
  10. rash — hasty
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. race — the arms race
  14. roll — a cake
  15. toast — bread
  16. cell — a phone
  17. clip — to cut
  18. roll — a list
  19. race — humankind
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. cell — in biology
  22. kid — child
  23. clip — for paper
  24. mark — to pay attention

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