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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. drill — the tool
  4. charge — a price
  5. charge — electricity
  6. race — a contest
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. club — for dancing
  10. race — humankind
  11. drill — army training
  12. race — the arms race
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. charge — in control
  15. cold — not warm
  16. club — for golf
  17. cold — an illness
  18. squash — to crush
  19. tear — from crying
  20. drill — a practice
  21. tear — to rip
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. club — a group
  24. squash — the sport

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