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

Word bank: tear · court · kick · race · mouse · straw

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. race — humankind
  4. tear — to rip
  5. court — of law
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. court — of a king
  11. tear — from crying
  12. race — the arms race
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. kick — in football
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. court — for sport
  17. race — a contest
  18. straw — to clutch at straws

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