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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: mine · toast · content · march · race · pound · clip · arm

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. content — happy
  5. pound — a weight
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. content — the amount
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. toast — bread
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. race — a contest
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. clip — to cut
  22. race — the arms race
  23. race — humankind
  24. toast — the most admired

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