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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: game · temple · last · cold · clip · mug · race · safe

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. game — wild animals
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — a video
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. cold — an illness
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. game — a match
  10. last — final
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. race — the arms race
  13. last — finally
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. last — to go on
  16. race — humankind
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mug — a face
  21. mug — a cup
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mug — to rob
  24. temple — a place of worship

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