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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. clip — for paper
  4. race — humankind
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. kid — child
  7. clip — a video
  8. race — the arms race
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. tear — to rip
  11. race — a contest
  12. pitch — completely
  13. fine — high quality
  14. stem — to come from
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. clip — to cut
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. fine — all right
  24. kid — to tease

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