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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. race — a contest
  3. key — the most important part
  4. chair — a leader
  5. key — in music
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — humankind
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. wind — moving air
  11. tear — to rip
  12. kick — in football
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wind — moving air
  15. tear — from crying
  16. key — for a lock
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. tear — from crying
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wound — an injury

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