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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. stand — to bear
  3. file — a line of people
  4. degree — from a university
  5. last — to go on
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. tear — from crying
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. last — finally
  10. fall — to drop
  11. degree — an amount
  12. fall — the season
  13. race — a contest
  14. last — final
  15. scale — in music
  16. file — a document
  17. race — the arms race
  18. file — a tool
  19. tear — to rip
  20. fall — to drop
  21. tear — from crying
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. degree — temperature
  24. scale — size or range

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