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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 116 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bass — low music
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ground — the earth
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. rock — a stone
  9. bark — to shout
  10. fall — the season
  11. ground — a position
  12. bass — the fish
  13. tear — from crying
  14. race — humankind
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. fall — to drop
  17. race — the arms race
  18. wind — moving air
  19. fall — to drop
  20. tear — to rip
  21. rock — music
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. bark — of a tree

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