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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. chip — to eat
  6. race — the arms race
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. chip — for betting
  9. snap — to click
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. sharp — clever
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. race — a contest
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. tear — from crying
  20. prune — to trim
  21. tear — from crying
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. prune — to trim
  24. tear — to rip

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