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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 124 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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  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. race — humankind
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bat — the animal
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — the arms race
  8. cell — a phone
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mine — for digging
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. cell — in biology
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. wax — to grow
  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