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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: mouse · tear · race · cold · bat · pit

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. 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. pit — a fruit stone
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. cold — an illness
  6. race — a contest
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. pit — in a race
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. tear — to rip
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. race — humankind
  14. pit — a hole
  15. cold — not warm
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. 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