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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cold — not warm
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mark — a trace
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. firm — steady
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. firm — a company
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. tear — to rip
  12. mark — a grade
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. race — the arms race
  15. race — humankind
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. firm — decided
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. race — a contest
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. tear — from crying

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