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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. tear — to rip
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. race — the arms race
  6. march — music
  7. rush — hurry
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. march — the month
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. tear — from crying
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. wind — moving air
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. race — a contest
  22. wind — moving air
  23. race — humankind
  24. march — the month

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