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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. hand — in cards
  4. tear — from crying
  5. stem — to come from
  6. file — a document
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. root — of a word
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. race — the arms race
  11. hand — help
  12. race — humankind
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. snap — to click
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. file — a line of people
  17. tear — from crying
  18. root — of a plant
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. tear — to rip
  22. file — a tool
  23. root — the cause
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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