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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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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 · fork · sharp · cold · trunk · race · object · scale

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. cold — an illness
  3. object — a thing
  4. fork — in a road
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. clip — a video
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. clip — for paper
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. sharp — clever
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. race — a contest
  16. object — an aim
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. object — to protest
  19. scale — size or range
  20. clip — to cut
  21. scale — in music
  22. race — the arms race
  23. cold — not warm
  24. trunk — of a car

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