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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. content — happy
  3. land — a country
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. tear — from crying
  6. race — humankind
  7. land — ground
  8. tear — from crying
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. content — the amount
  12. tear — to rip
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. rule — a law
  15. land — to come down
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. rule — government
  20. march — music
  21. race — the arms race
  22. march — the month
  23. stem — to come from
  24. march — the month

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