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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cap — a lid
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. perch — the fish
  5. cue — a signal
  6. cap — a hat
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cue — a hint
  9. snap — to click
  10. game — a match
  11. march — the month
  12. tear — to rip
  13. cap — of ice
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. race — humankind
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. race — the arms race
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. cue — for pool
  24. race — a contest

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