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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ball · race · present · pass · mine · tear

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. 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. present — a gift
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. race — humankind
  4. tear — to rip
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. tear — from crying
  7. race — the arms race
  8. present — the time now
  9. tear — from crying
  10. ball — a great time
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a dance
  13. pass — a permit
  14. present — there
  15. race — a contest
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. mine — for digging
  18. 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