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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. drill — a practice
  3. race — humankind
  4. spring — the season
  5. tear — to rip
  6. spring — a coil
  7. stem — to come from
  8. game — a match
  9. spring — of water
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. game — wild animals
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. tear — from crying
  15. race — a contest
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. drill — army training
  19. chair — a leader
  20. tear — from crying
  21. kick — in football
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. race — the arms race

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