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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  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. patient — calm and waiting
  2. race — a contest
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. squash — the sport
  7. race — humankind
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bat — the animal
  10. ball — a great time
  11. drill — army training
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. race — the arms race
  14. band — a ring
  15. squash — to crush
  16. tear — from crying
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. band — a music group
  22. tear — from crying
  23. drill — a practice
  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