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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: date · tear · land · race · ground · cell

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. 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. race — the arms race
  2. land — to come down
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. ground — a position
  5. date — the fruit
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. cell — a phone
  8. ground — the earth
  9. cell — in biology
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. land — ground
  12. land — a country
  13. ground — crushed
  14. tear — from crying
  15. race — humankind
  16. race — a contest
  17. tear — to rip
  18. 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