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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. tear — from crying
  4. fall — to drop
  5. court — of law
  6. race — a contest
  7. bound — tied together
  8. court — of a king
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. bound — certain
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. race — humankind
  15. race — the arms race
  16. court — for sport
  17. bound — obliged
  18. wake — a trail
  19. fall — to drop
  20. tear — to rip
  21. fall — the season
  22. bat — the animal
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wake — before a funeral

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