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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  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. trunk — of a car
  2. tear — to rip
  3. game — a match
  4. race — the arms race
  5. prune — to trim
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. swing — music
  8. bat — the animal
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. race — humankind
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. swing — to play on
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. mark — a trace
  18. swing — in golf
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. prune — to trim
  21. race — a contest
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. mark — a grade
  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