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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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cell — a phone
  3. race — a contest
  4. rest — a break
  5. wound — an injury
  6. race — the arms race
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. stock — goods
  10. rest — what's left
  11. tear — to rip
  12. cell — in biology
  13. branch — a division
  14. race — humankind
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. rest — what's left
  17. stock — shares
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pit — in a race
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. pit — a hole
  22. tear — from crying
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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