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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. tear — to rip
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cold — not warm
  5. lean — to bend
  6. bass — the fish
  7. face — to point toward
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. club — for golf
  11. face — part of the head
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. club — a group
  14. bass — low music
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. tear — from crying
  19. face — to confront
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. lean — thin
  22. race — humankind
  23. club — for dancing
  24. kick — in football

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