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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. toast — bread
  3. race — a contest
  4. wind — moving air
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. net — after costs
  7. saw — the tool
  8. net — in sport
  9. chest — a box
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. race — humankind
  13. saw — the tool
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. race — the arms race
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. chest — of your body
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — from crying
  22. chest — of your body
  23. net — for catching
  24. lie — to recline

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