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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. tear — to rip
  3. mine — for digging
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. pit — a hole
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — a contest
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. pit — in a race
  10. tear — from crying
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. season — in sport
  13. race — the arms race
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. season — of the year
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. tear — from crying
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. mine — an explosive

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