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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. tear — from crying
  3. court — for sport
  4. tube — the underground
  5. tear — from crying
  6. swing — in golf
  7. court — of a king
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. tube — a container
  10. last — final
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. swing — music
  13. bat — the animal
  14. race — humankind
  15. swing — to play on
  16. last — finally
  17. race — the arms race
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. court — of law
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. race — a contest
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. last — to go on

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