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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 · saw · leaves · clip · wound · content · fall · arm

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. wound — an injury
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. clip — to cut
  5. content — happy
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. fall — to drop
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. fall — to drop
  11. saw — the tool
  12. content — the amount
  13. wound — an injury
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. fall — the season
  17. race — a contest
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. clip — a video
  20. race — humankind
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. clip — for paper
  23. race — the arms race
  24. saw — the tool

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