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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. race — humankind
  3. capital — money
  4. drill — a practice
  5. tear — from crying
  6. drill — army training
  7. tear — from crying
  8. content — happy
  9. season — in sport
  10. drill — the tool
  11. season — of the year
  12. content — the amount
  13. stock — shares
  14. capital — a city
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. wind — moving air
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. stock — goods
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. race — a contest
  22. wind — moving air
  23. race — the arms race
  24. stock — a soup base

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