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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bore — to tire
  4. race — humankind
  5. hand — in cards
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. clip — a video
  10. hand — help
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — what's left
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. wound — an injury
  19. rest — a break
  20. swing — in golf
  21. race — the arms race
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — to play on
  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