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

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. race — a contest
  5. fall — the season
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — what's left
  8. hand — in cards
  9. rest — a break
  10. ground — crushed
  11. kid — child
  12. ground — the earth
  13. fall — to drop
  14. race — the arms race
  15. tear — from crying
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. ground — a position
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. toast — bread
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. race — humankind

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