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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. race — humankind
  3. shower — rain
  4. ground — a position
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wind — moving air
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. kid — child
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. mark — a trace
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. tear — from crying
  16. ground — crushed
  17. kid — to tease
  18. mark — a grade
  19. wind — moving air
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. race — a contest
  22. ground — the earth
  23. tear — to rip
  24. race — the arms race

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