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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. drill — a practice
  6. drill — army training
  7. tear — to rip
  8. rash — a series
  9. rash — hasty
  10. last — finally
  11. race — a contest
  12. drill — the tool
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. last — to go on
  15. race — humankind
  16. spring — of water
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. race — the arms race
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. spring — the season
  21. last — final
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. spring — a coil

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