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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: clip · perch · hand · race · mug · march · game · capital

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. march — music
  5. hand — help
  6. race — humankind
  7. march — the month
  8. hand — in cards
  9. clip — to cut
  10. mug — a cup
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. clip — a video
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. perch — the fish
  15. capital — money
  16. mug — to rob
  17. march — the month
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. race — a contest
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. mug — a face
  22. capital — a city
  23. clip — for paper
  24. hand — part of the body

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