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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: pound · tear · snap · ball · cold · race

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. race — the arms race
  3. pound — a weight
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. tear — from crying
  6. race — a contest
  7. ball — a dance
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. snap — to click
  11. cold — an illness
  12. race — humankind
  13. tear — to rip
  14. ball — a great time
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. tear — from crying
  18. snap — to speak sharply

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