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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  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 — to rip
  2. tear — from crying
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. race — humankind
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. last — to go on
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. last — final
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. tear — from crying
  17. last — finally
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. bat — the animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. race — the arms race
  23. deal — to handle
  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