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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. track — a song
  3. key — for a lock
  4. cold — not warm
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mug — a face
  7. tear — to rip
  8. band — a music group
  9. race — humankind
  10. pit — in a race
  11. pit — a hole
  12. cold — an illness
  13. key — the most important part
  14. track — a path
  15. mug — a cup
  16. race — the arms race
  17. race — a contest
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. track — to keep track
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. band — a ring
  22. tear — from crying
  23. key — in music
  24. band — a rubber band

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