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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. race — a contest
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. drill — army training
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. race — humankind
  12. race — the arms race
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. prune — to trim
  15. kid — to tease
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tube — the underground
  19. drill — a practice
  20. drill — the tool
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — child
  23. prune — to trim
  24. tube — a container

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