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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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  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. stand — on your feet
  2. tear — to rip
  3. race — a contest
  4. root — of a plant
  5. saw — the tool
  6. root — of a word
  7. capital — money
  8. saw — the tool
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. race — humankind
  12. root — the cause
  13. tear — from crying
  14. stand — to bear
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. march — the month
  17. capital — a city
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cold — an illness
  21. march — the month
  22. cold — not warm
  23. march — music
  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