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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. race — a contest
  3. tear — from crying
  4. squash — to crush
  5. present — a gift
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. bat — the animal
  9. tear — to rip
  10. band — a music group
  11. squash — the sport
  12. present — the time now
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. pop — soda
  16. race — humankind
  17. pop — to visit
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. band — a ring
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. tear — from crying
  22. pop — music
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. race — the arms race

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