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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 124 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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. race — a contest
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tube — the underground
  6. file — a tool
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. file — a document
  9. race — humankind
  10. bat — the animal
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. bass — low music
  13. tube — a container
  14. tear — to rip
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. file — a line of people
  21. bass — the fish
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pass — a permit
  24. bat — in an idiom

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