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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 120 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. mine — for digging
  3. race — humankind
  4. rule — a law
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. rule — government
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — a contest
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. tear — to rip
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. game — a match
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. tear — from crying
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. game — wild animals
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. snap — to click
  23. foot — a measure
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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