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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mine — for digging
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. race — a contest
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. object — to protest
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. object — an aim
  12. race — humankind
  13. snap — to click
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. craft — a skill
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. object — a thing
  19. fork — in a road
  20. craft — boats
  21. race — the arms race
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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