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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. prune — to trim
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. chair — a leader
  7. tear — from crying
  8. last — to go on
  9. wind — moving air
  10. root — of a plant
  11. tear — from crying
  12. rash — a series
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. rash — hasty
  16. race — the arms race
  17. tear — to rip
  18. last — final
  19. root — the cause
  20. last — finally
  21. race — humankind
  22. root — of a word
  23. race — a contest
  24. chair — a professorship

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