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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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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: race · cell · clip · bass · tear · sharp · fork · bulb

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. clip — a video
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. bass — low music
  6. cell — in biology
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. tear — from crying
  11. fork — in a road
  12. bulb — for light
  13. clip — to cut
  14. cell — a phone
  15. race — humankind
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. race — the arms race
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bass — the fish
  24. bulb — for light

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