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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. sharp — clever
  4. race — a contest
  5. lie — to recline
  6. content — the amount
  7. race — humankind
  8. field — for sport
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. content — happy
  11. field — farmland
  12. race — the arms race
  13. fall — to drop
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. fall — to drop
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. tear — from crying
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. fall — the season
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. tear — from crying
  24. field — a subject

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