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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bound — certain
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bass — low music
  5. wax — to grow
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bound — tied together
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. rule — government
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. spring — of water
  14. bound — obliged
  15. race — the arms race
  16. spring — a coil
  17. tear — to rip
  18. rule — a law
  19. race — a contest
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. spring — the season
  22. bark — to shout
  23. race — humankind
  24. rule — to rule out

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