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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. rash — a series
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. rule — a law
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. shower — rain
  9. race — a contest
  10. rash — hasty
  11. branch — a division
  12. race — humankind
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. capital — a city
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rule — government
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. race — the arms race
  23. squash — the sport
  24. squash — to crush

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