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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 120 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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. file — a line of people
  4. tear — from crying
  5. chair — a leader
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — a contest
  8. race — the arms race
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. current — happening now
  11. swing — to play on
  12. current — of water
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. wind — moving air
  15. current — electric
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. file — a document
  18. swing — in golf
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — to tease
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wind — moving air
  23. file — a tool
  24. swing — music

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