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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. snap — to click
  3. shower — to wash
  4. net — in sport
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — a contest
  7. tear — from crying
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. net — for catching
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. bore — to drill
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. chair — a leader
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. tear — to rip
  17. race — the arms race
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. bore — to tire
  20. shower — rain
  21. net — after costs
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. toast — bread

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