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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cold — an illness
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. race — humankind
  9. clip — to cut
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. clip — a video
  12. race — the arms race
  13. rule — government
  14. rule — a law
  15. tear — to rip
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. wind — moving air
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cold — not warm
  20. clip — for paper
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — to turn a key

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