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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. tear — from crying
  3. saw — the tool
  4. band — a ring
  5. ground — crushed
  6. game — a match
  7. tear — to rip
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. race — humankind
  10. firm — steady
  11. band — a music group
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. clip — to cut
  14. ground — the earth
  15. game — wild animals
  16. tear — from crying
  17. race — the arms race
  18. race — a contest
  19. clip — for paper
  20. firm — decided
  21. firm — a company
  22. clip — a video
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. saw — the tool

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