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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. content — happy
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. race — humankind
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. saw — the tool
  11. tear — from crying
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. branch — a division
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. race — the arms race
  16. content — the amount
  17. mine — for digging
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. saw — the tool
  20. deal — to handle
  21. kick — in football
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. race — a contest
  24. mine — belonging to me

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