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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. plane — a tool
  3. race — the arms race
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. race — humankind
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. branch — a division
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. tear — to rip
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. cold — not warm
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. tear — from crying
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. race — a contest

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