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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. ball — a great time
  4. season — in sport
  5. ball — a dance
  6. club — for dancing
  7. season — of the year
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — shares
  10. shower — to wash
  11. tear — to rip
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. stock — goods
  14. race — the arms race
  15. tear — from crying
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. race — humankind
  19. club — a group
  20. pitch — completely
  21. club — for golf
  22. shower — rain
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. race — a contest

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