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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. rush — hurry
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. chair — a leader
  6. drill — the tool
  7. tear — from crying
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. lean — thin
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. field — a subject
  13. tear — to rip
  14. squash — to crush
  15. drill — army training
  16. race — the arms race
  17. field — for sport
  18. race — a contest
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. drill — a practice
  21. race — humankind
  22. field — farmland
  23. tear — from crying
  24. lean — to bend

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