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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — the underground
  4. race — the arms race
  5. last — final
  6. drill — a practice
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. craft — boats
  9. race — a contest
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. last — finally
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. mine — for digging
  15. tube — a container
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. last — to go on
  18. drill — the tool
  19. race — humankind
  20. pound — a weight
  21. tear — from crying
  22. drill — army training
  23. craft — a skill
  24. tear — to rip

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