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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. file — a line of people
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. track — a song
  6. last — finally
  7. track — to keep track
  8. race — humankind
  9. file — a tool
  10. track — a path
  11. tear — from crying
  12. last — final
  13. tear — to rip
  14. race — a contest
  15. race — the arms race
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. file — a document
  18. last — to go on

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