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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: wind · current · date · clip · tear · race · arm · bound

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. clip — for paper
  3. date — the fruit
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bound — certain
  6. current — electric
  7. tear — to rip
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. current — happening now
  10. wind — moving air
  11. race — humankind
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. tear — from crying
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. bound — obliged
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. current — of water
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. bound — tied together
  22. wind — moving air
  23. race — the arms race
  24. wind — to turn a key

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